Global Domination
by fishe153
Summary: Andy's hosting a game night at his house in hopes of being able to spend time with Erin. The game is Risk, and some people take it a little too seriously...  Do I really need to tell you Dwight is one of those people?
1. Game Night

**Author Note:** You do not have to know the game Risk to enjoy this story.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Game Night**

"Alright, Game Night tonight at my place," Andy announced theatrically as he walked into the office. Erin clapped her hands with an excited expression on her face. Everyone else glanced at him for a moment or two with deadpan expressions before returning to work.

**Andy**

"I actually got the idea for game night from a conversation I overheard between Jim and Dwight. Specifically, it'll be Risk night, because no game tops Risk. I've been hyping it up for about a week, and I got enough people into it. It should be a good time for three reasons: one, it's Risk; two, Erin will be there; three, Gabe won't."

**Dwight**

"Board games? Yes, they can prove to be useful from time to time, if you have no other form of entertainment at your disposal. However, I usually chose to steer away from them. That is, until Jim and I got in an argument about who would win in a game of Risk. Now is my chance to show that I am the superior player."

**Jim**

"So, yeah, I'm going to Andy's game night. Which ordinarily would be great, except that, until I found out about game night, I'd never played Risk in my life. Luckily, Pam happens to be like, the world's greatest Risk-er, so she's been teaching me."

**Pam**

"Yeah, I've been teaching Jim. It hasn't been easy. I think I'll leave it at that."

**Erin**

"I'm super excited for Andy's game night. I wish Gabe could come, though."

**Gabe**

He shakes his head. "I don't like board games."

**Michael**

"I think game night is exactly what this office needs. I feel a certain closeness wearing off. We've got to get closer. We're like a spider web, and the closer the individual strands are on a spider web, the more juicy flies it's going to catch. And if the spider web doesn't catch any flies, what happens to the spider? It dies. So, yeah, count me in for game night." He smiles broadly at the camera.

**Kevin**

"I'm not really good at board games... but Andy said there'd be free food, so..." He shrugs his shoulders.

**Phyllis**

"It really sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm too busy tonight, so I can't."

**Stanley**

"What on earth made you think I was going to game night?"

**Creed**

"Global Domination. It's the ultimate fantasy. Of course I'm going."

**Ryan**

"No, I'm not going."

**Jim**

"Unfortunately Pam won't be able to be there, though. Someone's got to stay home and watch CeCe, and we haven't had the best of luck with babysitters, so-"

**Dwight**

"This will be the perfect opportunity to show Jim I'm better than him by both nature and nurture. Nature by my luck with the dice, and nurture by my excellent use of resources. I think Jim knows I'm better- he seemed to want to step down, but his pride wouldn't let him. Not after the debate where he said he would beat me at Risk any chance he got."

**Jim**

"I forget exactly how that conversation started..."

* * *

**Author Note: **Thanks for at least reading the first chapter! This is a writing exercise for me to stay fresh as I plan my next novel. Anyway, the plot is open for suggestions. I hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review, it keeps me motivated.


	2. The Gummy Bears and the Uniform

**Author Note:** Once again, you don't have to know the game Risk in order to have fun with this fan fiction. It will be briefly described in this chapter, but if you don't get it, don't worry about it. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**The Gummy Bears and the Outfit**

The doorbell rang. Andy took a deep breath.

He left the room where he set up the table and walked to the front door. He pulled it open, and Erin stood in the doorway. She was smiling nervously, wearing a black coat, a blue shirt and jeans. In her hand was a plastic container.

"Hello, Erin," Andy said as a big smile grew on his face. "You're the first one here."

"Well, you know me," Erin said as she stepped in.

"Let me take your coat, m'lady," Andy said as he put his hands on Erin's shoulders.

"Why thank you," Erin giggled as she relaxed her arms to let him take it off.

She turned back to Andy, who was holding her coat, and lifted the plastic container toward him. It was cylindrical, and filled with gummy bears. "I brought gummy bears," she said enthusiastically.

"That was really thoughtful of you, Erin," Andy said earnestly. "I can't take it now though, since I'm holding your coat."

"Oh yeah, sorry," Erin said as she lowered it. "Where should I put it?"

"Game room's to the left," Andy said. "On the table there's a lot of snacks, you can put them there. I'll be with you in a sec."

Andy went down the hallway toward the kitchen. Erin turned to the left and went into the game room.

"Whoa," she said in awe as she looked at it. A shiny wooden table rested on a thin floral rug that covered the floor. On the table was the Risk board, and around it were seven chairs. On the left end of the table there was bags of chips and candy, just like Andy said. The walls were lined with wood shelves that had books, CD's, records, and speakers.

**Erin**

"Well, yeah, I've been in that room before but I guess I just- I forgot how nice it was, that's all."

"So, what do you think of the setup?" Andy asked as he walked in.

"It's great," she said as she walked closer to the table and set down the gummy bears. "This is sort've embarrassing, but I have no idea how to play Risk, though."

"Fret not, m'lady," Andy said, and Erin giggled again. "I'll give you Andy Bernard's famous One-Minute-Crash-Course."

"Ooh," Erin exclaimed.

"Alright, so the world is divided into six continents- Antarctica's not included- and each continent is divided into territories. At the start of the game you are assigned a certain number of territories and a certain number of troops. You put the troops into the territories as you chose. You gain more territories by having your troops attack the troops in a territory next to yours and winning. You attack by rolling dice, and whoever gets the higher number defeats one troop on the other player's territory."

Andy turned to Erin to see if she was getting it. She had a vacant look on her face but she nodded her head, "Okay, I think I get that."

"Each turn you get more troops, and the amount you get is determined by the amount of territories you have, divided by three. If you own every territory in a continent, you get a special bonus number of troops, depending on how big the continent is. You can put your new troops anywhere on any territory that you own."

Andy looked at Erin again. Her eyebrows were tensed now. But she nodded again. "Yeah, okay, that makes sense."

"You also get a card for every turn that you take over a territory. Each card has a picture of either a cannon, a soldier, or a horse on it. If you get three cards that match, or three cards that are all different, you can turn them in for more troops at the beginning of your turn. Each time someone uses cards, they go up in value. So if you used cards, you'd get four troops, and then if, say, Dwight put down cards on his next turn, he'd get six. The next person to put down cards would get eight troops, and so on."

"Wait," Erin said, and then she put her hands on her forehead and let out a frustrated moan. "Ugh."

Andy laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get it once we start playing. It's sort've hard to describe. And I didn't do a very good job so-"

"I think you did a great job," Erin said seriously as their eyes locked. Then a bright smile came to her face. "I'm just not very quick is all."

Andy smiled back.

The doorbell rang and their moment was jerked apart. "Sorry. Door," Andy said as he pointed toward the door and went up to go open it.

Erin put one hand to her forehead. Her face was dazed and confused.

Andy opened the door, and there stood Dwight. A smirk came to Andy's lips instinctively, but he forced it off before Dwight saw. He wore a navy blue sergeant uniform with big gold buttons and many awards on his left breast. There was a big white belt, with a real sword in the sheath. On his head was a hat worn by the major.

"Step aside," Dwight said. He walked briskly in, as if he really were a world conqueror.

"Lookin' good, Dwight," Andy said in an excited voice. "This is how Risk should be played."

"Silence," Dwight ordered as he walked into the game room.

**Dwight**

"Is the suit really necessary? Yes."

Andy walked back into the game room. Dwight was scanning the board with narrowed eyes as he circled the table. "Which edition is this board?"

"One of the newer ones, I think," Andy said uncertainly.

Dwight glared up at him, as if knowing the specific edition was vitally important.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll go get it," Andy said.

Creed was at the door this time. He brought lemon juice. Michael came next, bringing vodka.

Andy took the bottle from him. "Thanks so much." He promptly walked to the kitchen and threw it out.

As soon as it was in the trash can, the bell rang again. Andy went to get it, and Kevin's massive figure stood in the doorway.

"So, what kind've food do ya got?" he asked immediately.

"Go into the game room and see for yourself," Andy said as he gestured toward the room.

Kevin's face filled with glee as he went merrily into the game room.

Andy turned to follow him, but was called back instantly by the bell. He turned to the camera and said, "That'll be Jim."

He opened the door and, sure enough, Jim stood in his doorway.

"Hey Jim," Andy said. He took a step back to give him space to walk in. "Room's that way."

"Thanks Andy," Jim said as he walked in. Everyone else was already seated at the table, ready to play.

"Nice uniform Dwight," Jim said as he took a seat between Creed and Kevin. "Do you wear that for Monopoly too or-"

"Shut up, Jim," Dwight snapped.

**Jim**

"So, my whole night was just made by that outfit."

Andy walked in after Jim. "Alright, we're all here. Does anybody need the game explained to them?" He turned his head and saw that Erin was sitting between Dwight and Michael. He bit his lower lip. "No? Good, then we can get started."

"Wait!" Dwight said as he raised a hand. Andy took a seat at the head of the table. "I have a few problems."

"Of course you do, Dwight," Jim muttered to himself as he sat back in his chair.

* * *

**(another) Author Note: **I just wanted to say it made my day when there was an advertisement for online Risk on this fanfic.


	3. South America

**Chapter Three**

**South America**

"Alright, Dwight," Andy said, "what's on your mind."

"First," Dwight said authoritatively, "look around the table. What do you notice?"

Andy tensed his eyebrows. "Uh-"

"Each person has troop units that are actually figures of troops. I have boxes."

"Well, yeah," Andy said. "I didn't have enough different colored troops for each person, so I had to use the little blocks from an earlier edition of the board I have. This game really is supposed to be played by no more than six."

"Which brings me to my second point," Dwight said. "There is simply not enough territories for the amount of people playing this game."

"Wha-" Andy tried to say, but was interrupted.

"Forty-two territories. Seven players. That means we all start with six. That's not enough to form an integral strategy."

Creed nodded silently.

"So, what do you propose we do about this, Sgt. Dwight?" Jim asked.

"Don't call me that," Dwight snapped back.

"Sorry, Private."

Dwight glared venomously at Jim and then turned back to Andy. "We need more territories."  
"Okay," Andy said. "How?"

"Glad you asked," Dwight said. He pulled out a white cardboard disk from inside his military uniform. There was a long string coming from its center that was tied to a thumbtack. "We'll use the moon."

Dwight shot up to his feet, stood on his chair, and stepped on the table, accidentally knocking Erin's troop pieces onto the floor with his foot.

"Dwight! What are you doing?" Andy asked, exasperated.

"Dwight, cut it out," Michael said.

Dwight reached up to the ceiling, trying to stick the thumbtack in so that the moon would be suspended over the board.

"Dwight, I think you should get down," Erin said shyly.

"Dwight, seriously-" Jim started, but was interrupted by Creed.

"Let the man do what he has to do," he said peacefully.

Kevin was preoccupied with the gummy bears he was putting into his mouth.

Dwight succeeded in getting the thumbtack in the ceiling and he jumped down off of the table. "Now it's interplanetary Risk."

"I'm pretty sure the moon isn't a planet," Jim said.

Dwight looked at him angrily.

The moon was low enough that everyone could read what it said. It was divided into seven territories. Each one was named after one of the players, with the world 'Land' put after.

"Schrute Land will be mine," Dwight said. "Bernard Land will be Andy's, and I think you can figure out the rest."

"How do you get on the moon?" Andy asked.

Dwight paused and stared at the board.

**Jim**

"I've got to hand it to Pam, she did a good job teaching me. Unfortunately, her lessons had one tragic flaw: she forgot I was playing Risk with Dwight Schrute. Now I've got to worry about the moon."

**Dwight**

"The moon? That's nothing. I prepared each planet in the solar system, with all of their moons. Just in case."

**Creed**

"It's pure genius. The moon: the final frontier. It's counsious-raising to say the least."

"Okay, so we each start off with six territories on Earth, and one territory on the moon," Andy said. "Forty-nine territories in all. In order to win you have to not only conquer the Earth, but also the moon. I'm going to hand out cards, which will determine the territories you start with."

**Dwight**

"There are two types of Risk players: the foolish player and the wise player. The foolish player gets his initial territories in North America. It doesn't sound too bad if you don't think about it. You get five extra troops per turn, and it only has three borders for invaders to come in from. However, many players fight for North America, and by the time you get it, everyone else has had other less profitable continents for several turns, making them much stronger. The wise player gets his initial territories in South America, which is small and easy to conquer. You only get two extra troops per turn, but after everyone has weakened themselves fighting for North America, you take it over. Unfortunately this advice is only useful if you aren't given territories randomly, based on cards."

Andy passed out the cards. Jim took each one given to him and nodded his head in approval. Dwight let out frustrated bursts of air that grew in intensity with each card he got.

"Okay, put one troop on each of your territories," Andy said.

Everyone did, and they each also put a troop on the territory named after them on the moon. It was awkward, with people reaching over each other and trying to figure out where their territories were. When the dust cleared Dwight called out with disgust, "What? Jim is starting off with the whole continent of South America? That's not fair, the odds of that are so slim. We've got to reshuffle."

"Dwight, that's just how the cards came out," Jim said, smiling.

"Sorry, Dwight," Andy said. "Nothing I can do."

"Don't you see, you poor ignorant people?" Dwight asked. He looked around the table at each person. "He's the only one with a continent. With the extra troop bonus, he'll dominate us all."

"It's just a game, Dwight," Kevin said.

"Does no one but me recognize the gravity of the situation?" Dwight asked.

Everyone stared at him.

"Ugh!" he groaned as he slumped back in his chair.


	4. Text Messages

**Chapter Four**

**Text Messages**

**Andy**

"Are things going as I hoped? Well, I planned to sit next to Erin, but of course Dwight and Michael had to take those seats. Also, Dwight's sort've being annoying. It's my responsibility to keep him in check, so I've got to worry about focusing on that, which takes away from Erin. All in all though,- yeah, it's not going great."

"Alright, here's how it's going down," Andy said with a comic edge. "We're all going to roll two dice into the box at the other end of the board. Whoever rolls the highest goes first, and we go in a clockwise fashion from then on. Anyone want to roll first?"

Michael and Dwight simultaneously raised their right hands.

"Okay, one of you two."

The two of them turned to each other, both with their hands still raised.

"Michael," Dwight said delicately. "My statistics show that I consistently roll better when the dice have not yet been rolled. Please, I need this."

Michael rolled his eyes and lowered his hand.

"Alright, Dwight will kick this game off," Andy declared.

Dwight leaned across the table, in front of Erin, to grab the two white dice in the box (there was also three red ones). He rolled the dice: 1 and 3.

"Dammit!" Dwight swore. Jim raised his hand to his mouth so Dwight couldn't see him smirk.

"Hand me the dice, Dwight," Andy said.

Dwight exhaled with frustration as he ungracefully grabbed the dice and handed them over to Andy. Andy stood up and threw the dice over the board and into the box. 4 and 3.

"I can live with that," Andy said.

At the other end of the table, Kevin held the container of gummy bears in his hand. Only one fourth of the bears remained. He didn't raise his eyes to the dice in the box, which were closer to him than anyone else.

"Um, Kevin?" Andy asked as he sat down. Kevin looked up at him like a disturbed snake. "Could you hand the dice to Creed?"

Kevin put the container back on the table and gave the dice to Creed.

As Creed stood up a faint buzzing sound came from Erin's pocket. She pulled out her phone and held it under the table. While everyone else leaned inward to see Creed's roll (6 and 5) Andy glanced over at Erin. Her lips lowered and her eyebrows scrunched a bit. The faint smile faded from Andy's face.

Erin scanned the people around her as she rose to her feet. No one seemed to notice her as Jim rolled the dice, least of all Dwight. She walked around the table and left through the door behind Andy. Andy turned back to watch her go, and then looked back at the table. Dwight was laughing.

"Well, Jim, it looks like your lucky streak has finally come to an end," Dwight said.

"Let's try not to jump to conclusions Dwight," Jim said, "you know- before the game actually begins."

Kevin stood up, pushing his chair back. He squeezed the dice in his hands and dropped them over the board. They came up as two sixes.

"Yes," Kevin said as he raised his fists in the air.

"So Kevin goes first," Andy said. "You get to put down troops each turn. The number of troops you get is the number of territories you have divided by three, but you always get a minimum of three troops."

"So I get three," Kevin said slowly, sounding somewhere between making a statement and asking a question.

"Yes," Andy said as he stood up. "You can put them on any territory of yours that you want. I'll let you guys get this game a-rollin', I'm just going to go to the kitchen for a second to get the soda I've got in the fridge."

Andy walked into the dining room, which was connected to the game room, and then into the kitchen. Erin stood on the white-tiled floor with her thumbs typing madly on her phone. Andy walked toward her, leaning on the table she stood next to.

"Oh, Andy," she said, slightly startled. Her thin lips parted into a smile, but her eyes shone with unshed tears. "Sorry I-"

"Erin, is everything alright?" Andy asked in a low voice.

"It's just-" Erin started. She put her phone on the table and said, "just a stupid fight I'm having with Gabe."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Andy said. "Do you," he paused, "wanna talk about it?"

"No," Erin said quietly with her eyes lowered to the ground. She looked up at Andy. "It's just, Gabe told me he didn't want me coming here tonight. We sort've got in a fight, and he said I should see him instead of playing some 'dumb game'. He went on a bit about how stupid and childish it was. And then I just got this text from him that said 'So how's your little game coming?'. And I don't know, it just really hurt me. And sometimes I feel bad, because he thinks my interests are immature, and I just want to leave him, but then he can be so nice and-" Her voice, which was strong until this point, faltered with tears. "And now I'm ruining your game night and-"

"No, no, no," Andy said gently. Erin was looking at the ground again. "Erin, look at me." She turned her head up and looked into his eyes. "You're not ruining anything."

"Really?" she asked.

"Oh, come on," Andy said as he stood up straighter and smiled. "If I wasn't bothered by Dwight standing on my furniture, putting a thumbtack into my ceiling, and changing the whole dynamic of the game without asking me, I don't think there's anything you could do to upset me."

Erin laughed. "I can't believe we're playing on the moon!"

"I know, right," Andy said. "You better watch out, or I'll be sending my troops to conquer Hannon Land."

"Well you just better keep your eye on Bernard Land then, or you won't have it for long," Erin replied. There were no tears in her eyes.

**Andy**

"How could anyone ever say things like that to her? I just don't get it."

**Erin**

She smiled. "Andy's so great. Every time I talk to him, I just feel better."

Andy and Erin walked back into the game room together and took their seats. Kevin was staring blankly at the board, trying to decide what to do.

"Kevin," Dwight said, "the choice should be obvious. You already put your troops in North Africa, now look at where South America is. They're directly connected. If you don't get Jim out of South America, he'll get two bonus troops and use them to attack you in North Africa."

Kevin turned to Jim. "Are you going to attack me in North Africa?"

"I have no intention of doing that next turn," Jim said.

Dwight growled. "Kevin! It doesn't matter if he won't get you next turn, what about the turn after that? And the turn after that? And the next turn, and the next turn, and the next turn, and-"

"I think I'm going to attack Egypt," Kevin said over Dwight as he grabbed the two white dice.

"Ugh!" Dwight groaned. (Egypt was one of his territories).

"Okay, Kevin, do you know how attacking works?" Andy asked.

"No," Kevin said.

"Okay, first of all, you use the red dice. When you're attacking, you can roll a maximum of three dice, assuming you have four or more troops in your territory that you're using to attack. If you have three troops on your territory, you can roll two dice; if you have two troops you can roll one, and if you only have one troop, you can't attack."

"Okay."

"So what happens is you will roll three dice, and Dwight, because he is the defender, can roll a maximum of two dice, assuming he has two or more troops on the territory you are attacking. Since he only has one troop, he can actually only roll one die. If his roll is equal to or higher than all three of your rolls, then you lose one troop. If not, he loses his troop. You keep doing that until you either stop attacking, or you take out his piece and move troops in."

"So, I can roll three dice?"

"Yes," Andy replied.

"Okay, I'm going for it," Kevin said excitedly. He put the white dice back and grabbed three red dice. Dwight picked up one of the white dice as Kevin enthusiastically dropped the red dice in the box. 6, 1, and 2. Dwight rolled his one die. 5.

"Kevin has the higher number, and therefore wins," Andy said.

"Shut up," Dwight snapped. "We don't need you announcing everything."

Dwight took his piece off of Egypt and Kevin moved three pieces in.

Kevin wiped his forehead. "That was sort've intense, so I think I'd like to end my turn now." His eyes darted from person to person.

"Of course," Andy said. "You can move your troops around to connecting territories if you want, or just take a card for conquering a territory this turn."

Kevin took the first card from the pile.

"My turn now," Michael said. He placed three troops on three of his territories. "Jim," he said. Jim, who was texting on his phone, looked up.

Dwight leaned forward and pointed at Jim. "He's cheating! No contacting outside people during the game. Not by cellular devices or any other medium of communication."

"That's not one of the rules, Dwight," Andy said.

Dwight sat back in his chair, fuming.

"I've got Central America, which is connected to your territory, Venezuela, in South America," Michael continued.

"I see that," Jim said.

"So, do you promise not to attack me there on your next turn?" Michael asked.

"Sorry, I've got to attack somewhere," Jim said.

**Jim**

"Lesson number three: attack every turn. That's how you get a card," he spoke professionally. "Cards are essential to winning the game of Risk because if you get three cards that match you can turn them in for bonus troops at the beginning of your turn, which could mean the difference between winning and losing. Therefore, I must attack Michael on my turn for the card." He smiled at the camera. "See, I'm learning something. Plus Pam just texted me and said I had to go into Central America."

"You could attack North Africa," Michael suggested, "there's hardly any troops there after Kevin moved them into Egypt."

"Hey!" Kevin said angrily.

"No, I made an agreement with Kevin," Jim said.

"You could attack other moon territories with Halpert Land," Michael said.

"Sorry, not going to happen," Jim said. "There's too many strong territories around it. If I attack it would weaken Halpert Land like Kevin weakened North Africa," (Kevin said 'Hey!' again), "so that's not an option."

Michael bit his lip as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "Okay, fine. Fair enough. You can play this game however you want."

"I know," Jim said.

"Good." Michael rapped his knuckles on the table. "Well, then I guess I'll have to attack you in South America with Central America."

"Go for it," Jim said.

"Fine." Michael took the three red dice from the box. "Let's go."

Jim rolled 5 and 5. Michael rolled 3, 3, and 4.

"Double kill," Kevin said happily.

"Okay, Kevin, I think we can all see that," Michael said as he took two pieces off of Central America. "Think you've beat me, Jim? Okay, let's go again."

Michael picked up the three red dice.

"Actually, Michael you can only roll one die now," Dwight said. "You only have two troops left."

"Just shut up, Dwight," Michael muttered as he closed his eyes.

He rolled the three dice. 6, 5, and 5.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Beat that, Jim!"  
"Actually, you have to re-roll," Andy said. "I have a strict no cheating policy. You can only roll one die.

"That's stupid," Michael said. "Jim's troops probably only have horses and muskets, my troops have tanks and thermonuclear warheads. And they're terrorists."

"Wow," Jim said with widened eyes.

"Well terrorist or not, you can't break the rules," Andy said.

"You know what? Fine," Michael said. He grabbed the three dice and rolled one back in. 1.

Michael looked up at the ceiling and sank into his chair, a heavy frown on his face.

Jim rolled two dice. 2 and 5.

"You lose one troop," Jim said quietly. "So you can't attack anymore."

"No," Michael said defiantly. "No. Re-roll."

"Michael-" Jim started.

"Okay, fine," Michael snapped. He took his troop off and threw it down on the table.

**Jim**

"That was a lucky win for me. I think."

Michael ended his turn, and Erin went. She placed down her three troops, but did nothing else. Dwight went next. He took the three pieces in his hand.

He looked at Jim with narrowed eyes. "Up until now things have been going your way." He put one troop in Schrute Land, which directly bordered Halpert Land. "But things are about to change for you. Oh, how they are about to change." He put another piece on Schrute land. "Prepare yourself for monumental defeat- the loss of your namesake." He placed a third piece in Schrute Land. "I am attacking Halpert Land with Schrute Land."

* * *

**Author Note: **Thanks so much for the reviews! They motivate me to update more quickly (I was originally going to write this chapter on Sunday). Also, I would like to give a shout out to romionefan4eva, whose very creative fanfiction "Elevator Rides" inspired me to write this story.


	5. Schrute Land vs Halpert Land

**Chapter 5**

**Schrute Land vs. Halpert Land**

**Dwight**

He started in a high-pitched mocking voice, "_Oh! It's just one battle, it doesn't really matter." _He turned to the camera and said flatly, "Wrong." He reached into his military uniform and took out a a see-through plastic folder filled with paper. "See this? This is a guide to how each move anyone makes will affect the game in another thirty turns. According to these documents, if I succeed in taking over Halpert Land, which I will, then Jim will lose this game in exactly eleven turns." He put the folder back and said in a quieter voice, "Assuming that forty-five other contingencies occur."

**Jim**

He raised his phone with his right hand. "I've got Pam. Dwight can't compete with that."

**Creed**

"I've had my eye on those two for a while, and it's no secret that they have a bit of a rivalry. The Battle of Schrute Land versus Halpert Land? I'm fascinated to see how it turns out."

Dwight grabbed the three red dice as Jim took the two white dice. Everyone (even Kevin) was totally concentrated on Dwight and Jim. Dwight's face hardened into a determined death-glare, Jim's face remained aloof and relaxed.

Dwight scrambled the dice around in his hands, making little clicking sounds.

"Going to roll?" Jim asked.

"Your annihilation begins now," Dwight said calmly. He dispelled the dice from his hand into the box. They came up 6, 6, and 5. A satisfied smile came and went from Dwight's lips.

Jim tossed his dice in. 6 and 6.

"Dammit!" Dwight shouted, outraged. "How is that even possible?"

"Take off two pieces," Jim said.

Dwight exhaled furiously as he took two pieces off of Schrute Land. There were five troops remaining there, and four in Halpert Land.

**Jim**

"In retrospect, I'm definitely glad I followed Pam's advice and put three of my ten initial troops there, instead of putting them all in South America." He smiled at the camera for a few seconds, and then let out an awkward burst of light laughter. "It's not cheating. Right?"

Dwight swiped the red dice back. "The battle rages on." He dropped the dice back into the board, one at a time. 4, 5, and 3.

Jim took the dice and shook them in his hand for a second.

"Scared, Halpert?" Dwight asked.

Jim looked up at Dwight, still shaking the dice in his hand. "No."

"Then why are you waiting so long to roll."

Jim shrugged and tossed the dice into the box. 5 and 2.

"Take two more pieces off," Jim said.

"What?" Dwight asked incredulously. "Look at what you rolled."

Jim looked into the box. "Sorry, Dwight, you lost. Twice."

"Do you even know how this game works?" Dwight scoffed.

"Yeah, Dwight's right," Andy said. "You rolled the highest number: five. Your five beats Dwight's five because you're the defender. The second highest number was four, which Dwight rolled. Sorry buddy, but Dwight's got you on this one."

"Okay," Jim said, his voice a bit more timid than usual.

They each took a piece off of their territories. Jim quickly texted Pam under the table.  
Dwight rolled the dice again. 5, 5, and 1.

Jim rolled. 2 and 2.

"Ha!" Dwight laughed. "You can't fool me, Halpert. Behind your facade of tranquility is intensely overwhelming fear. Take off two of your troops!"

Jim reached forward and, before he could get his troops off, Dwight rolled again. He pulled the troops off and rolled.

"We both lose one," Dwight said. They both took one off.

"You can only roll one die now," Dwight said with a proud smile on his face.

"You can only roll two," Jim said.

Dwight rolled. 3 and 2. He muttered obscenities under his breath.

Jim rolled. 2.

"Yes!" Dwight yelled as he leaped triumphantly to his feet. Jim crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. Dwight pointed down at him. "The Schrute Warriors come into Halpert Land. The towns are plundered. The livestock are slaughtered and eaten in celebration. The men are tortured and killed. The women are easily wooed by the superior Schrute Warriors. The children are taught to purge their minds of the awful reign of the Halpert Warriors. Within years the name 'Halpert' becomes completely forgotten!"

"You done?" Jim asked.

Everyone stared at Dwight as his chest heaved with heavy breaths of air. The radiant smile on his face faded a bit. He threw his fist in the air and exclaimed, "Yes," again before sitting back down. Jim took the last piece off of Halpert Land. Dwight moved two troops in.

**Jim**

"I _really _don't want Dwight to win."


	6. Bongos!

**Chapter Six**

**Bongos!**

"Creed, it's been ten minutes," Andy said with a hint of annoyance, "could you please decide where you want to put your troops?"

Creed rubbed his chin with his forefinger and thumb- sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly.

"Andy, I've really gotta tell you," Michael said with his arms crossed and his face blank, "this game night's not going as great as I was expecting."

"Why, because you couldn't get Venezuela?" Jim asked.

Michael gave Jim a glare as if he had just said something extremely offensive about his mother.

Kevin took a gummy bear from the container. He put it in his mouth. His eyes rolled upward and a satisfied smile arose to his face. He quickly lowered his vision back to the gummy bears and reached in for another one. A frown came to his face as he felt around the bottom of the empty container, as if trying to find something he couldn't see.

"Creed," Dwight said, "I really think you should get going. Jim's turn is next, and it should be really embarrassing for him. We all want to see it." He shifted in his chair and rubbed some of the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He shifted again as he carefully examined the moisture on his hand.

**Creed**

"I take a long time when I play Risk. I have to. You see, I have a disadvantage to them. They grew up in an age of technology; their minds have been trained to go three, maybe four times faster than mine. To even compete I'd have to make every move four times longer than theirs, and I don't just want to compete. I want to win it."

**Dwight**

"Am I nervous about Jim's upcoming move?" He scoffed. "No." He rubbed the skin under his nose with his forefinger and looked into the camera for a few seconds.

Andy turned to Erin. Her head was leaning sideways in her hand- her arm propped up on the table. Each time she blinked she left her eyelids closed for a few moments. She opened her mouth and took in a deep yawn.

**Andy**

"I don't blame her. It's been like, thirty minutes, and not everyone has gone yet. Jim is the only one left, but that's not much consolation. Well, if there's one thing the Nard Dog can do, it's remove boredom from a fair lady's life."

"Erin," Andy said quietly, even though there was no way to conceal his voice from everyone else at the table.

Erin's eyes opened and she sat up. Her cheeks reddened a bit as she tried to perfect her posture.

Andy cocked his head to the left, toward the hallway where his staircase was. He got out of his seat and walked in that direction. He looked back at Erin, whose eyes were wide with curiosity. He jerked his head to the left again. She mouthed the word, 'oh!' and got out of her seat to follow him.

Andy entered the hallway and turned to go up the white-carpeted stairs. He turned back a few steps up to make sure Erin was behind him. She was, and they smiled at each other. He turned and bounded the rest of the way up. At the top he took a left down a hallway and opened one of the doors.

"Come in," he said as he pushed the door all the way open, stepping inside the room and giving space for Erin to walk in.

"I haven't been in your room in a long time," Erin said as she flicked the light switch on.

A light that hung from the ceiling glowed with shocking strength, causing Erin to squint for a second. Andy's bed rested in one corner, his wardrobe in another, his desk pressed against a wall, and various instrument cases were strewn about the floor.

Andy maneuvered through the cases with high footsteps as he said, "Sorry, it's not real tidy here right now."

He stopped over one of the many guitar cases. He knelt down and undid the latches. He opened the top. The glossy tan body of the acoustic guitar reflected the light above. He lifted the instrument delicately from its velvet-lined case. He put the sling over his shoulder and stood on his feet. He strummed a chord as he walked over to his bed and sat down, facing Erin.

She looked down at him, a polite but awkward smile on her face.

"Name a song," Andy said as he strummed another chord. "Something you would like to hear."

"Hm," Erin said. "Build me up Buttercup?"

Immediately after Erin named the song Andy started playing, his guitar suddenly bursting with excitement. "_Why do you build me up, buttercup baby," _his voice was crisp and soared over the chords, _"just to let me down, and mess me around? And worst of all you never call baby when you say you will-"_

Erin smiled and clapped in time as Andy continued. After a few verses though, she stopped him, "I never realized, but that song's actually kind've sad. Not the music, but the words. Could you play something more happy?"

"Special request from Erin Hannon," Andy said in a classic-hits-radio-host sort've a voice as he continued to play the chords of Build me up Buttercup, "a happy tune." He suddenly changed chord patterns and sang again. "_Oh ho ho it's magic, you know. Never believe it's not so."_

Erin's smile bloomed and she began to sway with the music.

"You've got the rhythm," Andy said, pausing his singing but not his guitar. "Sing along."

"_Oh ho ho it's magic, you know_," the two of them sang in almost-harmonious unison.

The music filled the room and electrified the air. The sound was only faint down below in the game room as Creed finally finished his turn (he hadn't attacked anyone). Dwight raised his eyes to the ceiling with a focused face.

"I get three troops," Jim said as he took three in his hand, "plus two more because I have South America." He took three more. He looked down at his lap, where his phone glowed. He put one troop on Brazil, bordering Africa, and the rest on Venezuela, bordering Central America.

"Jim, what are you thinking of doing with all of those pieces?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to attack Central America, remember?" Jim asked. "Which shouldn't be to hard, considering you only have one troop there."

"You really should have fortified more of your troops from North America there at the end of your turn," Dwight said.

"Oh, really?" Michael asked crossly as he swung his head to face Dwight. "Thanks a lot. For nothing." He turned back to Jim. "Please don't do this Jim. I have most of North America right now, just give me a few more turns."

"Why would I do that?" Jim asked. "Technically, you're my biggest threat right now."

"No, I am," Dwight said aggressively.

"Yeah, right," Jim replied aloofly.

"I just had a great idea," Michael said as a grin brightened his face.

"Oh, really?" Jim asked with fake surprise. "Do tell."

"Imagine this," Michael said slowly as he raised his hands in front of him, "the official 'Michael Scott-Jim Halpert Alliance'!"

"The Msjha," Jim asked, abbreviating the alliance into one word. "It doesn't really have a ring to it, does it."

"We could make it the Abaf," Michael suggested. "Alliance Between amazing friends."

"I'm going to attack Central America with Venezuela now," Jim said.

"Ugh," Michael groaned.

**Jim**

"What am I going to do? I'll tell you. I'm going to go from Central America to to Western United States. It was decided after the moon was installed that Central America was one of the two countries with a portal to the moon. Specifically, Halpert Land. From Western America I will take Halpert Land and Schrute Land." His voice grew in excitement, "I am the most powerful player in the game, nothing can stop me. I will redeem Halpert Land." The smile fell from his face as he lowered his head into his hands. "Oh god, I sound like Dwight."

Jim took over Central America with one roll and moved his troops in, leaving just two in Venezuela. Michael said nothing as this took place.

**Michael**

"I went to this game night to help strengthen the friendships in the office, and Jim," he stopped and shook his head with his eyes lowered to the ground, "Jim's not acting like a friend."

"Now I'm going into Western United States," Jim said.

"You know what, you're good enough as you are," Michael said. "Just end your turn. It's the right thing to-"

"What?" Jim asked.

"You know what, just attack it," Michael said. "You don't care about anything but winning anyway."

"That _is _the point of the game," Jim said.

"Sure it is," Michael said defiantly.

Jim's phone vibrated and he looked down at it. He opened the new text from Pam. Don't attack Western America this turn! You'll be too poorly defended and Michael will be able to come into South America.

Jim looked back up at the board. "Actually, I'm going to end my turn."

Michael let out a long, relieved, stream of air.

Jim took a card and it was Kevin's turn.

Dwight turned to Michael. "Michael," he said, and Michael turned to him. "Please meet me in the hallway in five seconds."

Dwight rose to his feet, the handle of the blade hitting the side of the table and causing the pieces to vibrate down the board a bit. He walked briskly out of the room to the hallway with the stairs and Michael followed.

When they were out of earshot of everyone in the room (with the sound of feel-good songs pouring down the stairs) Dwight spoke lowly. "We both want one thing right now: Jim to lose his power. Correct?"

"Jim is being a real jerk," Michael agreed.

"Good," Dwight said. "I know that he seems big and powerful coming into North America, but I need you to fight back against him."

"You're only saying that so that I'll be weakened and you can come into Western America from Schrute Land."

"Absolutely not," Dwight said. "From this point onward, you and I have peace on the Halpert Land/Western America border." He extended his hand, and Michael shook it. "We must give each other a one-turn warning if we plan on breaking this treaty, so the other will have time to defend. Now back to business, you're going to attack Jim and force him back into South America."

"He'll just come back and hit me harder in North America if I do that," Michael replied.

Dwight laughed. "Oh, I don't think he will."

"Why wouldn't he do that?" Michael asked. "What's your plan?"

Dwight paused for a second to wet his lips with his tongue. He looked up the stairs, momentarily distracted. "Huh, the music stopped."

Back upstairs, Andy and Erin took a short break from music playing. Erin was sitting on the bed next to Andy now, clapping her hands energetically. "Andy, that was so much fun."

"You were great," Andy said. He strummed a few chords on his guitar. "Want to play?"

"Oh, no," Erin said, shaking her head and waving her hands in front of her. "I don't know how."

"You could play a few simple chords," Andy said as he unslung the guitar from his shoulder and handed it to her. She took it. "That's all you need to play a song."

Erin positioned it comfortably on her lap. She assumed a natural position over the guitar, with her left hand on the neck and her right thumb on the strings.

Andy leaned toward her so their bodies touched and gently took her finger between two of his fingers. He placed it over a fret on the guitar neck, and said, "That's all you need to play a simplified C chord, as long as you only strum the top three strings."

Erin rolled her thumb down the three strings and the room rang for a moment with the music. "Wow!" she said, beaming at Andy.

"Now just add two more fingers nearby that, and you've got an F," Andy said as he moved her fingers for her again. She played the chord again and laughed. "Now take your fingers off and put your forefinger here, and then you've got G. Now try playing them one after the other."

Erin did, and the chord progressions resounded around them.

"Keep doing that in that pattern," Andy said. Erin did. He started nodding his head to the beat and then sang:

"_Playing Risk downstairs in the room of games_

_With Dwight Schrute dressed-up just the same_

_As Napoleon, or some other guy _

_Who would've fought way up high_

_on his horse_

_and of course_

_Jim just lost Halpert Land and_

_Creed really should be banned and_

_his turns are just way too long_

_Hey, but don't get me wro-ong_

_I'm happy here singin' this so-ong_."

His voice balanced gracefully over the chords. He laughed and said, "Keep playing, I'm going to go get my bongos."

"Bongos?" Erin laughed, the rhythm on the guitar falling just a bit.

Andy got up with the room still dancing with noise and knelt down to another case. He opened it up and took out the two connected bongos in it. He picked them up and sat back down on the bed. He began to drum a colorful syncopated beat on the bongos.

"_Playing risk downstairs in the room of games  
With Dwight Schrute dressed up just the same_

_as Napoleon, or some other guy-_"

Erin began to chime in too, building the strength of the song. Just as the melody was coming to its climax (_his turns are just way too long_), Andy stopped the music. "Stop, stop," he said with disappointment. Erin stopped strumming and the room became crushingly silent.

Andy started beating on the bongos. "I'm trying to figure out how I want to end this song on these," he said. "I feel something in me, but I can't get it out. Argh!" he let a frustrated moan.

"Oh, who cares?" Erin said, an ecstatic smile on his face. "We were having fun, let's just do it again."

"No, you don't understand," Andy said. His eyes were deep in concentration. "I _need_ to learn this. I'm going to be so mad if I can't get this."

Erin exhaled impatiently as he sat back and lowered the guitar a bit deeper in her lap. Andy kept drumming away for minutes on end.

"I think I'm going to go back downstairs and see how the game's going," Erin said as she unslung the guitar and laid it on the bed. "Sorry."

"Yeah, sorry," Andy said, not looking up.

Erin left and went down the stairs. She passed Dwight and Kevin talking at the bottom. They froze their conversation and Dwight gave her a hostile glance. She walked into the game room.

Dwight turned back to Kevin. "So, will you attack Jim from Africa? It's the only way we can be sure he'll lose South America, and make him virtually helpless."

"I don't see how that helps me," Kevin said. "I just want to take over Africa. Jim might have South America, but he's not even interested in me. He's fighting with Michael, and that's good for me."

"You will attack Jim in South America on your next turn," Dwight said. He reached his right hand into his military jacket, grasped around for a second, and then pulled out a clear cylindrical container. It was filled with gummy bears. He handed it to Kevin. "Understood?"

Kevin grabbed the container from Dwight. "You got it."

Kevin walked happily back into the game room. Dwight turned to face the camera. An evil grin grew on his face.


	7. Homemade Brownies

**Chapter Seven**

**Homemade Brownies**

**Andy**

"Okay, so I messed up. I am a man of many passions. Right now my main passion is getting back together with Erin, but I also have another powerful passion that accidentally got in the way: my passion for music. I'll admit I got distracted when I couldn't figure out that rhythm on the bongos, but it won't happen again. By the way, I did figure out that rhythm." He tapped the surface of the bongos for a second. "Yeah, it wasn't worth it."

Kevin walked into the room with a comically delightful face. He took a seat as Dwight walked in, his face hard-set and cold. Kevin began pulling at the edges of the top of the gummy bear container, which was attached to the rest of the cylinder by transparent tape. After pulling without any success, he attempted to get his nails under the tape to lift it up. His impatience wouldn't allow him to spend too much time on any one part of the tape, so his hand darted frantically from one side of the lid to another, tugging futilely on the tape. He started to pull the lid. His arm shook, he bit his lip and heaved air in and out of his nose. His face grew very red.

"Kevin," Jim said gently, "it's your turn."

"Do you need a pair of scissors to get that open?" Andy asked.

Kevin let in one more burst of energy before placing the container back on the table. His chest grew and shrank with each breath as he turned to Andy with a defeated expression. "Yes, please."

Andy rose from his chair and went toward the kitchen.

Kevin turned in his seat back at the board. He was still breathing deeply and quickly.

"So," Jim said, "are you going to-"

"Hey, let him take his time," Dwight said, his voice like a whip. He turned to face Kevin and said in his most sympathetic voice, "Think it through, Kevin."

Kevin took three of his troops and put them in North Africa.

Jim's eyebrows tensed as he looked at the gummy bears.

**Jim**

"I wasn't paying that much attention, but I could've sworn those gummy bears weren't around before. So either I'm crazy or-" he paused and started a new statement. "I really shouldn't've zoned out after my turn."

Kevin's words were broken apart by inhales, which were considerably less in length than they had been originally. "I'm attacking- Brazil- with North Africa."

**Jim**

"Yep. He definitely didn't have those gummy bears before."

"Kevin, I don't think that's a really good move right now," Jim said as Andy walked back in with a knife. "Right now we both have five troops in those two territories, and as the defender I have a slight advantage, since if we both roll the highest number, I win."

Andy walked over to Kevin and cut a sliver in the tape with the knife. Kevin pulled, and the tape unraveled. As this happened, Dwight spoke up. "He's wrong, Kevin. When the defender and the attacker both have five troops, the attacker as a fifty-one percent chance of victory."

**Dwight**

"Actually, since Kevin can only use four of his troops to fight, he only has a thirty-eight percent chance of winning. Either way, Jim gets weaker, and what more should I care about?"

"That's a good statistic," Kevin stated.

"First of all, I'm pretty sure Dwight just pulled that statistic out of his butt," Jim said, "and second if you attack me, and you don't take Brazil, then I'll use my bonus troops to come into Africa and take your troops there."  
"But I have four out of six of the African territories," Kevin protested. "That's almost the whole continent."

"I know," Jim said. "I can guarantee you will not get that continent if you attack me in Brazil."

"No," Michael said in a cuttingly civil voice, "because I'm coming down from Western United States into Central America and maybe Venezuela on my next turn. You can't fight both of us off at the same time."

**Dwight**

"Question: why did the Nazis lose World War II? Answer: they had to fight a two-front war, with the Russians in the East and Great Britain and the United States of America in the West. Right now Jim is like the Nazis, only without the historical relevance, power, or greatness."

"I'm going for it," Kevin said. He grabbed three red dice and threw them in the box. 3, 2, 6.

Jim rolled the two white dice. 6, 1.

"Who wins?" Kevin asked, turning to Jim.

"Uh-" Jim said as he scratched the back of his neck He chuckled a bit. "ah-" He lowered his eyes to his phone as he sent a text.

"Jim, don't you know how it works?" Dwight asked sharply as he leaned forward.. "I'm beginning to suspect you've never even played this game."

**Jim**

"That Dwight, he's a sharp one," he said in a mocking voice.

Jim's phone shook in his hand. He looked down at Pam's newest text. 'the highest number rolled was 6, & you both had it, so you win one. The second highest was 3, only kevin had it, so he wins one.' "I win one and Kevin win's one."

Dwight stared skeptically at Jim for a moment before leaning back in his chair.

Jim and Kevin both took off a piece. Kevin rolled again. 5, 4, 2. Jim rolled. 6, 2.

"One-and-one again," Jim said. They both took one off.

"You can only roll two dice now," Andy said, "since you have three troops there."

"Andy, I know," Kevin said with an edge of frustration.

"Sorry, just making sure," Andy said. He turned to Erin, who had a displeased look on her face. Andy smiled and she smiled back.

Kevin rolled his eyes and tossed the dice again. He continued to attack until he had only one troop left in North Africa and was therefore forced to stop. Jim had only one troop left in Brazil.

"Great," Kevin said sarcastically, "now you're just going to come in and get me."

"Yeah, that was pretty dumb," Michael said with a nod.

Dwight raised his posture a bit and turned toward Michael. "Michael, I need to conference with you in the hallway immediately."

"Got it," Michael breathed as he got out of his chair. The two of them walked into the hallway.

Dwight put his hands on Michael's shoulders. "Now, listen to me,"

"Dwight, get your hands off of me," Michael said quietly, but Dwight kept talking.

"you need to come into South America, like planned."

"Dwight, get your hands off me," Michael said more sharply.

"Don't worry about it. You can't lose hope-"

"Get your filthy hands off of me," Michael snapped, jumping back away from Dwight with a disgusted look on his face. Dwight took a step back as a flicker of surprise danced in his eyes.

"Michael," Dwight said, restarting the conversation, "why did you say it was a bad move for Kevin to attack Jim. That was our plan, wasn't it."

"Not _our_ plan," Michael said irritably. "_Your _plan. And to tell you the truth, it sucks."  
"No, it does not," Dwight said.

"Kevin was supposed to go into Brazil," Michael said. "Then Jim wouldn't get his two troop bonus, and he would be weak so when I attacked Central America he wouldn't be able to fight back. Now that Jim still has the continent, I can't attack Central America or I'll make myself too weak and he'll get me."

"Not true," Dwight said. "If you go into Central America, you will be bordering Venezuela, a.k.a. the only South American nation bordering North America, which means both borders of his continent will have enemies on them. He can't fight you both off at the same time."

"Well, he could go for me alone or him alone," Michael said. "And if he goes for me alone, then I'm going to get screwed."

"You will not," Dwight said. "If he does go for you- which I doubt, because he's afraid of getting to close to me- then Kevin will get him from Africa on his next turn. Then you can fight him back off."

"You seem too sure of this-"

"Why did the Nazis lose World War II?" Dwight asked.

"Okay," Michael said, lowering his eyelids and raising a hand. "When are you going to stop talking about Nazis tonight?"

"Just attack Jim in Central America, and I won't mention Nazis for the rest of the night," Dwight said.

"Or the KKK," Michael said.

Dwight exhaled exasperatedly. "Alright."

"Good," Michael said. "Just so you know, if this doesn't work, I'm stepping out of the Anti-Jim Alliance."

"Shh!" Dwight whispered as Michael turned toward the room. "Don't let him know about it. Call it the AJA."

"Whatever," Michael said, stepping into the game room.

"Michael, I ended my turn," Kevin said as Michael sat down.

Michael silently put three troops on Western United States. "I'm attacking Central America." The stale frown on his face gradually warmed until it became a magnificent grin as he squashed Jim's troops by sheer luck first in Central America, and then in Venezuela.

"You no longer have a continent bonus," Dwight declared triumphantly. "Oh Jim, how hard you fall."

Jim stared at him blankly for a moment before turning to Kevin, who was popping gummy bears in his mouth from the container in his lap. Jim frowned a bit and turned back to the board. Michael had one troop in Venezuela.

"Well, I think I'll end my turn then," Michael said. He couldn't help breathing a laugh as he took his card.

**Michael**

"What can I say, the AJA worked, thanks to the genius of Dwight Schrute and the daring heroics of Michael Scott. How to describe the AJA?" he paused for a second, "I guess you could say it's the best alliance since the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact."

**Jim**

"Apparently there is some team-up of Dwight, Michael, and Kevin. Michael is easy enough to deal with, his territories have one troop on them apiece for the most part. But if I get him, Kevin will get me, so..."

**Dwight**

He opened his mouth to talk but ended up only laughing.

**Jim**

"I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I deduce that I'm pretty much screwed." He gently nodded his head a few times.

Erin put her troops in one of the European countries and attacked the territory of Northern Europe (that was one of Jim's that he barely even noticed). In between rolls of the dice, Jim texted Pam under the table:

'michael, dwite, and kevin made an alliance against me. michael got into south america, and kevin is coming in from africa. what do i do?'

'that's rough. I don't know... get michael out?'

'then kevin will get me in brazil'

'sorry, but thats ur best move'

'so, i'm just gonna lose?'

'don't say that yet. its an unpredictable game.'

'yeah... pam?

'yes?'

'i just had a great idea'

'what?'

'i'm coming back home for a sec. get ur homemade brownies ready.'

'um... k?'

**Jim**

"Kevin is only against me because of those gummy bears. But those gummy bears can't last forever, especially with it being Kevin. And when he runs out, I'll offer him some of the greatest brownies ever made. And a treaty."

Jim looked up from his cell phone at Andy. "I'm sort've thirsty, didn't you say you were going to get soda from the kitchen earlier?"

Kevin looked toward the snack pile at the end of the table, where Creed's lemon juice was. Sure enough, there were no soda bottles. Without looking away from Andy, Jim reached his left hand into the gummy bear container, grabbed more than half of them, and pulled them away. Jim stuffed the bears in his pocket.

"Uh," Andy said, his mouth hanging open. "Oh yeah, right, I'll get get the bottles now." He stood up. "I'll have to make a few trips, I've got a lot of bottles, and I've got to get the cups."

"I'll help," Erin volunteered as she rose to her feet, smiling at him.

"Why thank you, m'lady," Andy said.

"Get the vodka," Michael said.

"So, you're ending your turn?" Jim asked Erin.

"Oh, right," Erin said, turning back to the board. "Um- okay, I took over Northern Europe, so I guess that's good, right?" She reached forward and took a card. She walked out of the room with Andy.

"Creed," Jim said, not looking at Creed but straight ahead.

"Yes?" Creed answered.

"Meet me in the hallway." Jim got out of his chair and walked toward the hall. Creed obediently followed.

Jim turned around as Creed entered the hall. Creed raised his eyebrows curiously at Jim.

"Alright," Jim said, smiling a bit, "I know this is going to sound really random, but can you make your next turn long?"

"Of course," Creed said. "You didn't have to ask that."

"No," Jim said. "I mean like, _really really _long. Until I get back."

"Hmm, I see," Creed said. "I'll do it if you make a treaty with me."

"What sort've a treaty do you have in mind?" Jim asked, putting a fist on his chin.

"Under this treaty, neither of us can attack each other. The treaty will only end when one of us issues the other a one-turn warning."

"Done," Jim said. He started to step forward, but Creed swung his hand forward, almost jabbing Jim in the stomach.

"All treaties must be made official by a handshake," Creed said gravely as he looked deeply into Jim's eyes. "That's how gentlemen play."

Jim shrugged and took Creed's hand. "Nice doing business with you."

Creed nodded his head.

"Tell Andy that I'm going, but I'll be back soon. Don't tell anyone else I left. If anyone asks, don't tell them anything. Got it?"

"Got what?" Creed asked, a little smile on his lips.

Jim smiled and nodded. "Alright." He took off for the door and stepped outside.

Creed walked into the game room, and from there to the kitchen, where Andy and Erin were filling their arms with soda bottles.

"These are really cold," Erin said, the frigid bottles leaning on her arms.

"Especially in those short sleeves," Andy said, he was wearing a long-sleeve brown shirt.

"Andy," Creed said, nodding at him.

"Yeah?" Andy asked as Erin and he walked toward the doorway Creed leaned against.

"Jim went out, he'll be back shortly."

"Okay?" Andy said in confused voice. "Where'd he go?"

Creed shrugged. "Beats me. I'm just the messenger."

"Well, hopefully his turn doesn't come up while he's away," Andy said as he walked past Creed.

"Oh, you won't have to worry about that," Creed said slyly. Erin smiled at him energetically as she passed.

**Jim**

He was driving his car down a neighborhood street. The darkness of the night obscured his features, making his voice his most distinguishing element. "So Pam sometimes makes little treats like brownies or cookies and such. The particular batch of brownies waiting for me at home happens to be the greatest batch of brownies I have ever tasted. I can hardly resist them. So, you can imagine what Kevin will be like after he gets a free sample."

Kevin stuck his hand back into the container. There were very few bears left. Everyone was back at the table, other than Jim. This was obviously brought up by Dwight. "Where's Jim?" he demanded.

"He went out," Andy said.

"He went out?" Dwight repeated impatiently. "Where?"

"It's your turn, Dwight," Creed said. "Why don't you focus on that."

"Do you have anything to do with this?" Dwight asked, his eyes burning with malice.

Creed shook his head. "I know just as much about it as you do."

Dwight scoffed. "You wish."

**Dwight**

"What did I mean by that?" He reached into his military jacket and pulled out an itouch. On it was a screen resembling google maps. "See that red dot on the map? That's Jim's car. Much like Spider-Man's spider-tracer, the location of my Dwight-Detector always appears on this screen when I activate a specific app. I put the Dwight-Detector on Jim's car after work today, just in case he tried something like this tonight. If he's going to seek help, I'll know." He put the phone away. "I compared the Dwight-Detector to the spider-tracer only because I couldn't think of a supervillain with a similar gadget. I don't care much for superheroes. Superheroes are naïve and unrealistically good. Supervillains are dark and scheming. They have the real brains, yet hack writers always have them lose. If Jim and I were in a comic, he would be Halpert-Man, and I would be DeathSchrute, and I would always win."

**Creed**

"I am going to win. I am almost certain of it."


	8. The Police Officer

**Chapter Eight**

**The Police Officer**

Jim swung the car into the driveway. He opened the door as he turned the car off. (His seat-belt was unbuckled few blocks ago). Without closing the door he ran for the front porch of the house. Orange light from the windows shone on his slightly-sweaty face. He practically jumped up the steps to the front porch and grasped the door handle.

Thrusting the door open, he stepped into the back hall. Pam stood in the doorway to the kitchen. The shape of her body was traced by the light. Her arms were crossed and there was a smirk on her face.

"Hey, Pam," Jim said hastily. "Do you have the brownies?"

"They're on the kitchen table," she said. "I'll go get them."

"Okay," Jim said. He turned to the camera with wide eyes and quickened breaths.

Pam returned a second later with a tupperware container filled with little brownies. Jim stepped toward her, a grateful smile on his face as he reached for it, "Thanks a lot, I-"

Pam pulled the container back before he could reach it, smiling mischievously at him. "First you need to tell me what you need them for."

Jim pulled his hand back and let out a stream of air. "Okay, I'm going to give them to Kevin so he won't attack me."

"Do you know how long I spent making these brownies?" Pam asked, slightly incredulous.

"Tell you what," Jim said, "you give me those brownies, and I'll make a batch of brownies for you each week for the next month."

"You've got yourself a deal," Pam said, handing them over to Jim.

Jim took the container and turned back to the door.

"Remember, Jim, it's just a game," Pam told him on his way out.

"Yep," Jim said just before the door closed. As he stepped onto the porch he looked into the camera and quietly said, "Not really."

"Creed, do all of your turns have to be so long?" Andy asked desperately.

Creed didn't answer, he continued to stare down the board with narrowed eyes.

**Andy**

"This is not going like I planned. Jim's gone, for some reason, Dwight left suddenly about ten minutes ago, and Creed's taking like, forever-times-two to make his move. Maybe I should have expected this... I wonder what Creed's up to, anyway."

**Creed**

"Most of my territories are in Asia. I may not seem very threatening right now, but I'm preparing to become an Asian Tiger."

"I wonder what the record is for the longest turn in Risk," Erin said dryly.

Andy laughed and turned to her. "That's an excellent question." He pulled his itouch out of his pocket. "What's your best guess?"

Erin's face livened up. "Twenty hours?"

"Really?" Andy asked. "I'd think six hours, tops."

"You're on," Erin said playfully.

Andy waited for the internet to load.

"So, do you think I should get Eastern United States on my next turn?" Michael asked Kevin in a low voice.

Kevin, sitting on the other side of the table, reached into an empty container on his lap. He looked up at Michael with subdued annoyance. "I'm out of gummy bears."

"I think I could," Michael said. "I don't have to worry about Jim anymore. So, who gets South America, me or you?"

"Michael, _I'm out of gummy bears_," Kevin repeated.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Michael asked.

"It has anything to do with everything," Kevin said with a bit of force.

"What?"

Jim's vision lowered for a second from the road to the speedometer. 50 mph. He looked back at the road and relaxed his foot. The car slowed down substantially. The humming of the car motor created a peaceful atmosphere.

Then, a police siren rang out, making Jim look into the rear view mirror. The reflection of red and blue lights pulsed brightly.

"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered as he pulled the car to the side of the road.

The police car stopped a few feet behind. Jim swung the seat belt across his chest and into the buckle. He put his hands on the steering wheel as he waited for the officer. The sound of feet pressing down on gravel grew closer and closer.

A shadow came across the driver window. Jim pressed a button to lower it. The officer was standing at his full height, so his head was above the car.

"We have reason to suspect you are trafficking drugs," the office said in a very deep scratchy voice.

"What?" Jim asked, shocked. "No. No, I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sir, just tell me where you were and why you were there and there won't be any problems," the officer said. "I'm on your side."

"Well, I was just at my house getting-" Jim paused. A toothy smile broke across his face for a fraction of a second before fading away, "some weed."

"Um- what?" the officer said, taken off guard.

"Yeah, I'm playing Risk with a bunch of my coworkers, and I'm losing badly. So I'm going to force them all to smoke weed so they're less alert."

"I'm an officer, I expect to be taken seriously!"  
"I'm being totally serious," Jim said in a voice that wouldn't suggest otherwise. "Mostly I need to get this idiot named Dwight, though."

"Dwight Schrute?"

"That's the one," Jim said. "Do you know him?"

"Know him? Every police in the city knows who Dwight Schrute is."

"Then you must be aware of what a pain in the butt he is," Jim said. "I've been putting drugs in his water for a long time, actually. A real little at first, and a little more each day, so he doesn't realize it."

"You what?" Dwight demanded, no longer concealing his voice.

"Sorry, officer," Jim said, "I've got to be going now. Nice talking to you, though."

Jim rolled up the window, cutting Dwight off as he said in his fake-officer voice, "Now wait a minute sir I still have some ques-"

Jim sped down the street, leaving Dwight standing alone in the road with a furious face.

**Jim**

"I'm just surprised I didn't realize it was him earlier. The lights on his car were very convincing, and the siren was a very good touch, but the military ribbons on his jacket were a little– unbelievable. All in all, I'd give his performance two out of five stars."

"Ready for this?" Andy asked, a smile on his face. "The record for the longest turn is _fifty hours_."

"Wow!" Erin exclaimed. "I'm glad we're not playing with whoever made that record."

"I don't know, Creed just might top it tonight," Andy said.

"Ugh, I hope not," Erin joked back.

"Although it would be a good thing to tell your grandkids one day, wouldn't it?" Andy asked. He changed his voice to sound like an old man. "Yes, back in the day we played these things called _board games_. I was there when the longest turn was made on one of them games. It was by some man named Creed– we almost killed him."

Erin burst into laughter. Michael and Kevin stared at Andy, unamused by his humor. Creed never looked up. His troops were placed, but he hadn't attacked yet. He barely moved a muscle until the sound of the door opening alerted him. He sat up in his chair and turned toward the doorway.

Jim walked into the room and said, "So, what did I miss?"

"Nothing," Creed said. "I think I'll end my turn now."

"What?" Michael spat. "You just spent twenty minutes sitting there, and you're not even going to do anything?"

"Patience is a virtue, Michael, remember that," Creed said as Jim walked to stand behind Kevin.

Jim tapped Kevin on the shoulder. Kevin turned his head to the left, and then to the right to see Jim. Jim's hands were behind his back and there was an inspired glow on his face. "I need to see you in the hallway," he said.

Kevin got out of his chair and the two of them walked into the hall.

Jim leaned forward and glanced into the game room before bringing his left hand forward. In it was the tupperware container.

"What are those?" Kevin asked.

"The greatest brownies ever made," Jim said slowly and dramatically. "And I'm giving you a free sample." He brought his right hand forward. In it was a brownie.

Kevin took the brownie and put in his mouth. A smile came to his lips as he chewed. After he swallowed it, he said, "Can I have another one?"

"You can have all of them," Jim said. "If you do me one favor."

"Anything," Kevin said.

"You cannot attack me for the rest of the game," Jim said.

"Deal," Kevin said as he grabbed the tupperware from Jim.

"Just give back the tupperware when you're done," Jim said as Kevin walked back into the room. Jim turned to the camera and smiled.

**Jim**

"So, now what? Well, for one thing, I'm getting Michael out of South America. Then I'm going to attack Africa, but not from South America. The Middle East is an Asian territory that I own that borders Africa, and I'm going to bring my forces in and start to take over that continent. I might actually still win."


	9. President Scott

**Chapter Eight**

**President Scott**

**Michael**

"So I'm officially President of the United States of America. Nothing special, right?" He tried to hold a straight face but a huge smile erupted on his face.

**Andy**

"Okay, instant replay: Creed ended his turn after doing nothing. Jim went, took Michael out of South America and reclaimed the whole continent for himself. Then, to everyone's surprise, he attacked Kevin in Africa using the Middle East- and Asian territory.. He won, and Kevin didn't fight him back on his turn. That was also surprising. Dwight came in at some point, and Jim made some strange joke about drugs that no one got. Then Michael went and got Eastern United States using Western United States. So yes, he actually is President Scott."

Michael reclined in his chair with an immensely satisfied face. "Well, this world is suddenly much better. My reign-"

"-term," Jim said under his breath.

"-is going to be glorious. I'll fix up the economy with my business expertise, create Scott Care, universal medical insurance with no money from the taxpayer-"

"Where are you going to get the money from?" Jim interrupted.

"Mm-" Michael said as his eyes turned to the side. "The doctor's paychecks."

"You realize you'd have a rebellion on your hands," Jim said.

"Then I'd send the army to steal money from impoverished nations that can't fight back."

"That's a much more reasonable idea," Jim said.

"The UN wouldn't allow it," Dwight said.

"Really?" Michael asked. "What do they care?"

"Yeah, the UN has always discouraged human rights," Jim said sarcastically.

"For your information, Jim, the UN is a peace-keeping force," Dwight said, sounding very offended. He turned his attention back to Michael. "You'd probably get impeached too, and then put on trial for crimes against humanity. Or-"

"Okay, you know what?" Michael said waving a hand and leaning forward. "You're wrong. Because I'm the president. And I control the UN."

"Do you know what the president actually does?" Jim asked.

"Okay, I'm ending my turn, is that okay with everyone?" Michael asked defensively.

"No one was stopping you from ending your turn," Jim said as Michael reached forward and took a card.

He looked at the card and his determined frown became a grin. "This is such a great game, isn't it Jim?" he asked quickly.

Jim looked at the board for a second. He had an entire continent, and was about to get Africa fairly easily. "Yes."

"Okay, my turn," Erin said. She quickly put her three troops on Northern Europe. "I'm going to attack Great Britain with Northern Europe."

"Oh, it is so on," Andy said, a big smile on his face. "My Brits can fight!"

"We'll see about that, Andrew Bernard," Erin teased. She rolled three red dice into the box.

"C'mon, Churchill," Andy said as he threw his dice in.

Erin looked at the dice with narrowed eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

"You win...twice," Andy said reluctantly.

"Yes!" Erin said as she took two of Andy's pieces off of Great Britain and handed them to him. "Europe will be mine."

"You may have won the battle, little lady, but the war is far from over."

**Andy**

"Erin and I hold all of the territories and Europe. Europe is sort've a big deal. It's five bonus armies a turn, and just an all around great continent. Do I care who gets it? No. Actually, I hope she does."

Erin took over Great Britain and ended her turn.

Dwight took three troops and put them on Scott Land. (Dwight took Malone Land and Scott Land on his last turn). "I'm attacking Hannon Land from Scott Land."

Dwight rolled the red dice. Erin, who was texting, didn't notice.

"Hannon, roll!" Dwight ordered.

Erin jumped a bit in her chair and looked at the box. "Oh, sorry, I just-" she rolled and got out of her seat and walked toward the kitchen.

"Ha! I win. Hannon Land is mine," Dwight declared. "Bernard Land's next."

"Just wait a second, alright Dwight?" Andy asked. "Go for Bratton Land or something."

Andy got out of his chair and walk to the kitchen. When he walked in Erin was already looking at him, her brown eyes strained and desperate.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's Gabe," she said. "We were arguing again, and I said something I shouldn't've said, and now he said he's coming over here to get me."

"You're kidding," Andy said incredulously. "Well, you can tell him he's not allowed to come into my house."

"I can't," Erin said. She lowered her head and stared at the floor. "I don't want you to get involved."

"Do you want to go with him?" Andy asked.

Erin looked back up at Andy with a surprised face. "No, no, but I- I don't think I can say no to him. And I don't want to embarrass him, or me."

Andy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and exhaled through his nose instead.

"I should be able to do what I want, right?" Erin asked warily.

"Of course," Andy said, his voice a bit too loud with encouragement.

"He can't make me leave, right?" A little more confidence.

"Not if you don't let him." Reassuring.

"Okay," Erin said brightly, looking at Andy. "And you think I'm doing the right thing?"

"I know you're doing the right thing." Andy nodded.

"Thanks a lot," Erin said.

They looked into each other's glowing eyes. Their breaths slowed down. Andy took a step closer. They were inches from each other.

"BERNARD! You're summoned."

Andy closed his eyes, gathering patience, and then opened them with a smile. "I guess Dwight already took over Bratton Land."

Andy walked back into the game room, leaving Erin alone.

"Roll," Dwight ordered, gesturing to the box where he already rolled three red dice.

Andy picked up the white dice from the table and rolled them. He won one and lost one.

"Again," Dwight said tonelessly. The two rolled again. One and one again.

"Again."

They rolled again. Dwight conquered Bernard Land.

"Yes," Dwight said triumphantly as he moved two troops in. "The moon is mine!"

**Dwight**

"Everything points to the moon being better than Jim's precious South America. The moon is worth four bonus troops, South America is worth two. The moon has seven territories, South America has four. The moon was created by Dwight K. Schrute, South America was created by God," he paused and muttered to himself, "...wait, that doesn't make sense..." He re-started his train of thought. "Besides, space has Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and those aliens from that one movie. Name me one famous person from South America." He gave the camera a challenging look.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Gabe crashes the game night to get Erin, and three players emerge as world powers.

**Please leave a review. Good karma for you.**


	10. The World Powers

**Author Note: **I was hoping to get this up days ago, but school work got in the way. Hopefully its length (the longest chapter yet) and content (its got some good content) will make up for it! Thanks for reading.

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**The World Powers**

**Erin**

"Gabe should be here any minute. Maybe he'll get lost."

"I beg your pardon," Andy said with a little smirk, "but I'm going to be invading Northern Europe with Ukraine."

"You'll never get it," Erin said, smiling.

Andy was about to roll his dice into the box when Jim stood up.

"Actually, Andy, Erin, can we go talk in the hall for a second?"

They both turned their heads toward Jim.

"Sure thing, tuna," Andy said.

"Thanks," Jim replied. The three of them walked toward the hall.

Dwight glared at them suspiciously. "Will the members of the AJA please meet me in the kitchen?" he asked. Kevin, Michael, and he got up together and left. Creed sat at the table alone.

"Okay," Jim said once they were in the hallway, at the mouth of the stairs, "as you know, Bratton land is connected, technically, to Ukraine. Other than Halpert Land, that's the only place for Dwight to attack the Earth from, and he won't attack with Halpert Land because he'd have to go for Michael in North America, and they obviously have an alliance."

There was a slight pause. "Proceed," Andy said politely.

"So what I'm wondering is if you two could maybe not attack each other in Europe anymore?" Jim asked.

"Why would that make a difference?" Erin asked.

Andy straightened his posture a bit. "I like the way this one thinks. He knows that if we attack each other it'll be easier for Dwight to take over Europe."

"Exactly," Jim said. "And he's going to get it either way, but if you don't fight each other, and instead build up forces, it will take him longer and exhaust more of his troops. I'm trying to get Africa right now, which borders Europe twice. So it'd be nice if I had a few turns to secure Africa before Dwight got Europe."

"That seems kind've mean," Erin said, her voice unsure.

"All's fair in war," Andy said.

"And also," Jim said, "no offense, but you two don't really seemed too concerned with the outcome of this game. It sort've matters to me."

"Done deal," Andy said, "if Erin agrees."

"Of course," Erin said, all insecurity gone from her voice.

"Great, thanks a lot," Jim said. "You guys should feel free to attack each other in Australia, though. You've got territories there."

"Thank you very much for the recommendation," Andy said.

Meanwhile, Dwight, Michael, and Kevin were gathered in the kitchen. Dwight threw an apple (he took it from the fridge) up and down as he slowly paced the tiled floor, his boots making crisp clicking noises. Michael stood with crossed arms looking down at Dwight's feet. Kevin cradled a tupperware container in his left arm while he took brownies from it with his right hand.

"They must be forming some counter-alliance against us," Dwight finally said. He brought the apple to his mouth and bit in. He immediately spat the apple chunk onto the floor. "What is this crap?" he asked openly. He placed the apple on the counter. He continued his original train of thought. "Michael, you need to take over North America so you can become a world power."

"Um, hello Dwight," Michael said, "I already am a world power. President of the United States."

"You don't get a bonus for getting a country," Dwight said, "you get a bonus for getting a continent, or the moon. Right now you own five of nine North American territories. Kevin and I own two of them, and we haven't put extra troops there so it will be easy for you to get. Then you've got to take out Creed and Erin from the two remaining territories."

"You don't need to tell me what I have to do, Dwight," Michael said.

"Now Kevin," Dwight said, turning to Kevin. Dwight's eyebrows tensed. He asked in a quiet voice, "Where did you get those brownies."

"Jim gave them to me," Kevin said with a full mouth. "He said he'd let me have them if I promised not to attack him for the rest of the game."

"He _what_?" Dwight demanded. Kevin looked surprised. "Need I remind you that the alliance you are a part of is the Anti _JIM _Alliance? What did you think that was supposed to mean?"

"Hey, it's your fault for not having enough gummy bears," Kevin shot back.

"Okay, well our plan was for me to get the moon and Europe, Michael to get North America, and you to get Africa," Dwight said. "Now what?"

"Jim get's Africa," Kevin said simply.

"Wait, why do you get _two _continents?" Michael asked.

"That's not the point," Dwight said. "The point is we were supposed to be the three world powers, and now we're all screwed. Jim will be focusing on Africa, so he won't attack Michael from South America until Michael has all of North America. Once Jim has Africa, he'll have five bonus troops altogether, and he'll get Michael."

"I'm leaving this alliance," Kevin said with finality.

"No, Kevin," Dwight said desperately, "we need you! Maybe you could get Creed out of Asia."

"Who cares about Creed?" Kevin asked. "I don't even think he knows how to play. I'm going for Australia."

"No!" Dwight protested. "Australia was supposed to be mine."

"Oh, so you get Australia too?" Michael asked.

"Oh, be quiet, you were going to get South America and Asia, so don't complain," Dwight said venomously. "This meeting is adjourned."

**Dwight**

"I don't need them. If Kevin wants to leave, what do I care? If Michael wants to turn on me, fine. He hasn't yet, but come on, his morale is obviously down. I don't need him. In the end, only fate can decide the victor. And I was born to win this game." He paused for a moment before adding, "Among many other things."

The two parties arrived back in the gaming room at nearly the same time. They awkwardly shuffled around each other until they settled back into their seats.

"I hereby withdraw my attack on the little lady due to the code of chivalry I strive to live by," Andy said.

"What?" Dwight spat, his face growing red. "You were about to attack her. Andy, you could destroy her. Why do you hesitate? Is it because of Jim? Jim!" He swung his head to face Jim.

"What is it, Dwight?" Jim asked innocently.

"You got them on your side, didn't you?" he demanded.

"Dwight, maybe Andy's just trying to be nice," Jim said. "Wouldn't you go easy on someone if it was their first time playing?"

"No," Dwight said forcefully. "I'd take advantage of their ignorance and crush them with increased intensity and determination."

"Yeah, but what if you encountered them again later in life, and they wanted to get revenge?" Jim asked.

"I'd remember their face and get them before they got me," Dwight said.

"What would you do?" Jim asked.

"Stupid question. I would apply pressure to specific points on their body to knock them out."

"Yeah, but what if they're wearing metal armor?" Jim asked.

"Why would they be wearing metal armor?"

"Maybe they're part of a governmental protection agency," Jim suggested.

"Then I would create a diversion, pay an accomplice off to scream 'bomb,' and get him in a stranglehold from behind," Dwight said.

"Hm, that might work," Jim said, "except that he has a tranquilizer, and could use it at any moment."

"Not if I hold him just the right position where he can't get me," Dwight said.

"Wouldn't you be put on trial for treason?" Jim asked.

"I'd flee the country," Dwight said.

"Where would you go?"

"Canada."

"No good, they'd find you."

"Germany?"

"More remote."

"Russia?"

"A little better."

"Sudan?"

"Perfect," Jim said. "Except there's sort've a lot of violence there, so-"

"I'd form a rebellion group that would bring order and peace to the country," Dwight said.

"But you'd almost certainly be assassinated."

Dwight stopped and thought about that for a second. "I suppose that's true."

"So, let me get this straight," Jim said, "you'd be willing to die for a game of Risk." Dwight's lower lip raised with frustration as Jim continued. "Just a thought, but you may want to reconsider your priorities. I could see maybe doing that for Scrabble, but this is just ridiculous."

Dwight opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it. He sank into his chair and pierced his lips. Kevin, Michael, and Erin snickered.

"Okay, I end my turn," Andy said. "Go ahead, Creed."

"Thank you, Jim," Creed replied. There were looks of confusion on everyone's faces. Creed put his three troops each on a different Asian country. "I guess I'll end my turn."

"Really?" Andy asked. "That was fast."

"That's what she said," Michael muttered under his breath.

"My turn," Jim said as he finished a text and clamped his phone shut. He put his five new troops in Egypt. "Kevin, I'm attacking you in North Africa from Egypt."

Jim took the three red dice and tossed them into the box. Kevin wiped his chocolatey fingers on his sleeve and rolled. Jim won and took North Africa, one of the two entries into South America (the other being the Central America territory in the North America continent).

"Now, Michael, I'm going into the Congo," Jim said. "That's yours."

The two of them rolled. Michael only had one troop in the Congo, and Jim won.

**Jim**

"Things are working out well for me right now. I have three of six African territories, and the only other ones in Africa are Kevin's, who can't attack me. Erin borders Africa in Europe, but she won't attack me. I have the Middle East, which is the Asian doorway into Africa, and I have all of South America. The only place I can be attacked is from North America, but I think Micheal's going to be focusing on getting North America before he attacks South, so for now, I'm golden. Thanks Pam."

Kevin placed his troops in the Australian territory called Western Australia. He attacked Dwight in Indonesia (also an Australian territory). This caused a minor uproar. Kevin took Indonesia, giving him two of four Australian territories. (Andy and Erin had the other two).

Michael easily took out Dwight's and Kevin's North American territories (Ontario and Quebec), and then went for Creed's North American territory, Northwest Territory. He couldn't take Creed out, and this left his defenses low. He took his card ungracefully at the end of his turn.

Erin put her three troops in Northern Europe. She ended her turn without attacking.

Dwight's turn. He put seven troops on Bratton Land. "Bratton Land against Ukraine," he declared coldly.

"Alrighty, Dwight," Andy said. The two men rolled, and each lost a troop. Dwight won the rest of the rolls and placed four troops in Ukraine.

**Dwight**

"I've always been an ambitious man. Under normal circumstances, I would go for Asia now. Europe's a waste of time in comparison. However, I have a treaty with Creed, and he has four of twelve Asian territories already. I assume eventually someone else will foolishly take him out of Asia, and then I'll get it. Anyway, I'm going to conquer Europe."

Dwight ended his turn and it was Andy's turn.

**Andy**

"Me and Erin aren't going for Europe anymore, but that doesn't mean the Nard Dog is out for the count. I've got a territory in Asia and a territory in Australia. Australia only has four territories, and so, technically, it's already twenty-five percent mine. So I'm going to refocus there and get Kevin."

Andy put his troops in Eastern Australia. He attacked and beat Kevin in Western Australia.

"Your turn again, Creed," Andy said as he took a card.

The doorbell rang, high-pitched and taunting. Erin jumped a bit in her chair. Andy perked his head up and his eyes narrowed slightly. A loud pounding came on the door.

"I'll get that," Andy said wearily. He got out of his chair, walked around the table, and came to the front door. He opened it. Gabe stood in the doorway, his scrawny body in a striped short-sleeved shirt and jeans. His brown hair was slightly disheveled.

"What is it, Gabe?" Andy asked with frigid formality.

"I want Erin," he said. There was a dullness in his eyes.

Erin came to stand next to Andy. She looked up at Gabe. "Please, go home. I'll be back in a few hours."

"No," Gabe said. "What you said to me was unacceptable. We're going back now."

"Hey, you're not in charge of her," Andy said. "She doesn't have to do anything you say."

Gabe turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Andy, this doesn't concern you."

"Actually, it does," Andy said. "And can we discuss this outside?"

Gabe nodded and stumbled backwards a few steps.

Erin gasped. "Oh god, no. You've been drinking." She put her hands to her face, and her fingernails angled into her skin.

Andy and she walked onto the porch. Andy closed the door. The sky was pitch dark, but the lights on the side of the house created a circle of illumination on the porch. It glowed down on Gabe's face, casting shadows with his brow and nose.

"Gabe, you said you'd stopped drinking," Erin said, her voice watery.

Andy put his right arm over her shoulder and said, "Gabe, can't you talk about this with her tomorrow? We're trying to have a good time."

"Get your arm off of my girlfriend," Gabe said. His eyes widened as Erin drew closer to Andy. She raised her teary eyes to his face.

"Gabe," Andy said slowly. "Did you drive here?"

"No one would give me a ride," Gabe said. "Get your arm off Erin."

"I'm going to drive you back home," Andy said. "You can pick up your car tomorrow. I'm not going to let you drive intoxicated."

"Let go off her," Gabe said. Then, as quickly as a striking cobra, he drove his fist across Andy's face.

"Gabe!" Erin exclaimed, scandalized.

Andy took a step back, his arm now off of Erin. He lifted his hand to the trickle of blood coming out of his left nostril. He saw the gleam on the crimson liquid on his hand. Suddenly his face became contorted with rage. He took a step toward Gabe and drew his right arm back. Gabe was already wincing. Andy held his breath, about to bring his fist forward.

"Stop!" Erin said, moving between the two of them. "This is wrong. Stop it, both of you."

Andy's face was still burning with anger. His knuckles clenched tighter, turning them skeleton white. He relaxed his fingers, dropped his arm, and let out a long exhale. "Gabe," he said, "I'm sorry I lost my control there, but-"

"Oh, be quiet," Gabe said. He pushed Erin out of the way and came at Andy again.

"I've never seen you like this, what's gotten into you?" Andy asked.

"Sometimes he gets like this when he drinks," Erin confessed, the words falling out of her mouth.

The two men were standing so close. Andy's breath was slow and rhythmic, Gabe's was unstable and quick. "I'm going to drive you home now, you shouldn't be driving" Andy said after a few moments.

"Forget it," Gabe said. He turned to Erin. He lifted a long thin finger toward her. "You will regret this." Andy's eyebrows flew up and his mouth dropped a bit. Erin looked at him desperately, mouthing words.

Gabe walked off of the porch onto the driveway, opened the door of his car, pulled out of the driveway, and sped away.

"Oh my gosh, Andy, are you okay?" Erin asked as she stepped in front of Andy. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine," he said. "How are you?"

She smiled tenderly. "I'm good." Her smile faded almost instantly and tears welled up in her eyes. Her face scrunched up and she whimpered.

"Oh," Andy said deep sadness. She took a step closer to him and he drew her in with his arms. She buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed. Andy rubbed her back gently.

Back in the game room, Creed was deciding where to place his three pieces. Jim texted Pam under the table.

'really want to get africa on my next turn. dwite'll get europe in a few turns, and then he wont let me get it ne more.'

'what cards do u have? do u have any with the same figures on it?'

'ive got three cards with soldiers on them'

'good. remember you can turn cards in at the beginning of ur turn if u have three cards with the same picture on it, or three cards each with a different picture on them. has anyone turned in cards yet?'

'nope'

'then u get 4 extra troops. the next person to turn in cards will get 6, and then 8, then 10, then 15 and it goes up by 5s from then on.'

'i think i mostly remember that'

'well ur a very smart man, jim halpert'

'why thank you'

"Alright, I think I'm done here," Creed said after placing his troops down.

"Okay," Jim said as he placed three cards down in the Atlantic Ocean. "I'm playing these cards for four bonus troops. That plus my two from having South America and three that I get each turn should give me a grand total of-"

"Nine," Dwight interrupted darkly.

"Very good, Dwight," Jim said with a bright smile on his face. "You could've been a-"

"Quiet," Dwight said.

"Of course," Jim said. He put nine troops into his fist and then dropped them on Congo. They clinked on each other as they fell. "Alright, Kevin, I'm going for East Africa with Congo."

Jim won, losing only two troops.

"East Africa to Madagascar. That's you again, Kevin."

Jim won, losing nothing.

"One last time, Kevin. Madagascar to South Africa."

"Destroy him, Kevin," Dwight said.

Kevin did not destroy Jim. Jim entered South Africa with four troops.

"I'm satisfied with that," Jim said. He fortified his troops in South Africa to Venezuela (which bordered Central America. "And I'll end my turn." He took a card.

**Jim**

"So now I have two continents. How many does Dwight have again?"

Andy stepped into the room as Kevin placed his three troops in his only remaining territory, Indonesia (in Australia).

"Creed?" Andy said. Creed turned to him. "Could you roll for me and Erin if anyone attacks us? We're going to be outside for a few minutes."

"Sure thing," Creed said, giving Andy a thumbs up.

"Thanks," Andy sighed. He turned around and left.

Kevin attacked Erin in New Guinea (also an Australian territory), but didn't win. Michael turned in cards on his turn for six bonus troops. He used them to take the last two territories of North America.

**Michael**

"Am I intimidated by Jim? No. Sure, he has South America, but really, who cares? A bunch of impoverished countries?" He shook his head. "And Africa, I mean come on, the people there are-" he paused, "it's not racist, it's just." He shook his head again. "Anyway, I've got the best economic superpower ever, the U S of A. Then Canada, that's up there. Oh yeah, and Mexico, they've got a great economy. Everyone loves the Peso. And I've got Alaska too, beautiful country."

Erin came in with her head lowered just as Michael was ending.

"Perfect timing," Michael said, a winning smile on his face. "It's your turn."

Erin stood over her chair, put three pieces down somewhere in Europe, and then left without saying a word.

There was an awkward pause that was by broken by Dwight's, "My turn now! I too am turning in cards. Altogether I get fifteen troops this turn. I am going on a European conquest."

Dwight went from one European territory to another, with Creed rolling in the absence of Erin and Andy. After a few minutes he conquered it.

"Ha! Yes!" he declared when he took the last territory. "What say you to that, Halpert? I've got two continents now-"

"actually one continent and the moon," Jim said lightly.

"-and they're both worth more than your continents."

Dwight's smile didn't fade at all as he took a card.

**Creed**

"Three players have emerged as superpowers. I am not one of them. Does it bother me? Nah. Why? Because I'm going to win."

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Three players go out, Creed makes a move, and Erin and Andy discuss her breaking up with Gabe.

**Please review!**


	11. The Madman part one

**Chapter Eleven**

**The Madman (part one) **or **The Walk**

Erin leaned against the white railing that lined the side of the porch. The porch light glowed orange over her body, casting a shadow over the bushes, which rustled gently as a wind came through them. Her eyes were lowered at Andy's shoes. "He's almost never like that," she said, nearly mumbling. "You see him at work, he's usually timid and- but sometimes-"

Andy nodded. "I can't say I don't understand. I used to have way worse anger problems than I do now, and I could go a little crazy."

Erin looked up at him remorsefully. "Did we ruin your night?"

"Totally not," Andy said, he smiled. "I'm just-" He stopped suddenly, laughed nervously, and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.

"What?" Erin asked.

"No, nothing, I was-"

"No you can tell me," she said, a smile playing cautiously at the ends of her lips.

"I'm just glad to spend time with you," Andy said quickly. He took a deep breath after saying that. He looked at Erin and then said, "-but not in a weird way or-"

"Oh yeah, I completely understand," Erin said.

"Yep," Andy said. The two of them smiled nervously.

The door opened and they both jumped.

Jim poked his head out of the door. "Oh- sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Worry not, my friend," Andy said. "What can I do you for?"

"It's your turn," Jim said.

"Well, then I'll be coming back in, after you," Andy said. He turned back to Erin. Her eyes were lowered at the ground again, and her little lips were lowered. He looked to Jim again. "I'll be with you in one second."

"Got it," Jim said, before going in and closing the door.

**Jim**

"Do I think Andy and Erin would be good together? I don't know. They seemed happy before, and they get along great now so- yeah, I guess so. Plus, there's something about the salesman-receptionist relationship that I like. Couldn't tell you why, though."

"Andy," Erin said slowly, "I'm really sorry, but I'm just not feeling- up to playing Risk anymore."

"One-hundred-percent understood," Andy replied, "but I'm going to go try and finish it up fast, so no one else thinks anything is going on."

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt to finish what we started," Erin said, smiling just a bit.

"I bet we could go out fast, if we tried," Andy said. "You know, attack each other. Wear each other out."

"It might actually be fun," Erin said, fully smiling now.

"Then, after, we could go for a walk or something," Andy said.

"It's a date," Erin said, enthusiastically. The smile vanished from her face instantly. "Except, not really."

Andy turned to the door as a wide smile broke across his face. He managed to stifle the smile into a little grin as he walked through the doorway and into the game room, Erin just behind him.

"So, how are world politics?" Andy asked as he took a seat.

"I am the most powerful player," Dwight said, "Michael is number two, Jim number three. You, Erin, and Kevin are about to lose, and Creed is neutral."

"Good sum up, Dwight," Andy said. He rubbed his hands together for a second. "Okay, I'm going to put my troops in Eastern Australia and attack Erin in New Guinea."

Dwight looked up at the camera with a devious grin as Andy and Erin rolled.

**Dwight**

"I over-estimated Andy. How, you ask? Kevin has only one territory left, and Andy could have taken him out. Why would that have been good for Andy, you ask? If you take out a player, you get their cards. Kevin had two cards. Not a big deal, but something. I would go for Kevin myself on my upcoming turn, but I have an alliance with Creed, and Creed has Siam, the only entry into Australia."

Andy ended his attack only when Erin and he had only one troop each in the battling territories. "Now, in Asia," he continued, "I'm going to use Afghanistan to attack Ural. That's Erin again."

"This time you'll lose even harder," Erin gloated as they rolled.

Creed spoke up, "Kevin, may I see you in the hallway."

Kevin didn't answer, but rose to his feet and walked into the hall with Creed.

"Just so you know, our alliance is dissolved," Creed said.

Kevin nodded. "Okay, but you've still got to carry out your end of the deal."

"Of course," Creed said. "You'll get what you've earned on Monday."

Kevin smiled slyly. "Nice doing business with you." He extended his fist forward. Creed looked at it confusedly for a second, before pounding it with his fist. Kevin brought his hand back with wiggling fingers. The two of them walked back into the game room.

Andy beat Erin, took her territory, grabbed a card, and ended his turn.

"My turn," Creed said. He put three troops in Siam. "I'm attacking Kevin in Indonesia with Siam."

**Dwight**

"Dammit!"

Creed took out Kevin's four remaining troops without losing one of his own, and he moved five in.

"Your cards, please," Creed said, leaning back and reaching behind Jim. Kevin handed him his cards. Creed sat back in his chair and looked at the cards with a wise grin on his face. "Dwight, could I see you in the hallway, please?"

The two of them walked into the hall.

"What is it?" Dwight asked, sounding busy.

Creed stood with his back to the stairs. He spoke in a very quiet voice, "You've got to look out for Andy."

"Why?" Dwight asked.

"Don't you see?" Creed asked. "He's only got territories in Australia and Asia. His Australian forces are very weak. He's got stronger territories in Asia. He's not going to attack me, because all of my Asian countries are very strong. So where's he going to go?"

"Europe," Dwight said, a vacant look on his face. His eyes were directed downward, to the side.

"Exactly," Creed said. "He may not be able to get into Europe, but he just might. What if he goes from the Ukraine to the moon? He would get rid of both your continent bonuses."

"Then Jim could get me," Dwight said slowly. "Yes, I see it all now." He looked Creed in the eyes and patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you for the heads-up. I will destroy Andy's two territories in Asia."

"Don't mention it," Creed said. "When I'm allied with someone, it really means something to me."

"I respect that," Dwight said. He put a hand to his forehead in salute, which Creed returned.

**Dwight**

"It's almost sad how easily I can take advantage of people."

Dwight marched with dignity back into the game room. Creed stepped into the doorway. "Andy, may I have a word?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Andy said, getting to his feet and coming toward Creed.

Creed stepped back to give Andy room to get into the hallway. Creed's voice was even quieter than when he talked with Dwight. "I'm issuing you my one turn warning. Next turn our alliance is over, and I will attack you."

"Attack me now," Andy said, Creed raised a finger to his lips, and Andy spoke more quietly. "I don't want to win anymore."

"We made an alliance that could only be removed with a one turn warning, and I'm not straying from that alliance," Creed said gravely. "However, if you'd like to go out more easily, I recommend you finish the girl off on your upcoming turn. She's only got one more country- it's in Australia- and it only has one troop."

"Will do, cap'n," Andy said. Creed smiled.

Andy and Creed walked back into the room, shoulder to shoulder, before they went to their chairs. Creed took a card, thus ending his turn.

"Okay, my move," Jim said.

"Meeting. World Powers. Hallway. Now," Dwight said, rising to his feet and walking toward the hall. Michael also stood up and followed him. The two of them walked into the hall.

"That means you too, Jim," Dwight said, turning back into the game room.

"Why thank you, Dwight," Jim said as he got out of his chair.

"Can it," Dwight replied crankily.

Jim stepped into the hallway, where the three of them formed a triangle.

"Jim, what are you planning on doing?" Dwight asked.

"Probably attacking the Ukraine from one of my African territories, taking it, and then going to Bratton Land," Jim said.

"Argh!" Dwight grunted with barred teeth. He took a deep breath, paused a second, and continued. "Okay, could you not do that?"

"Why would I not do that?" Jim asked.

"Because, if you fail, I will destroy you on my next turn," Dwight said. "Go for Michael instead, and I will spare you for one turn."

"Hey!" Michael said sharply. "I thought we were part of the Anti-Jim Alliance."

"We agreed we wouldn't attack each other," Dwight said. "We never agreed not to convince Jim to attack each other."

"You know what, you're worse than Jim," Michael said, his face tightened in anger. "I want to form the Anti-Dwight Alliance."

"Michael," Jim said, "if I attack Dwight on this turn, will you promise not to attack me in South America on your upcoming turn."

"Ooh," Michael said. "Can't do that. I've got to attack somewhere, and-"

"No deal," Jim said. "How about this, I agree not to attack you, Dwight, on this turn, and you don't attack me on your upcoming turn. Also, you can only put a maximum of four troops on territories bordering my nations."

"Deal," Dwight said.

**Jim**

"I actually thought of that all by myself, without Pam. It's brilliant, actually, because the only reason I would want to attack Dwight this turn is because he gets more bonus troops than I do, and so he could put them on the bordering nations on his next turn and make it almost impossible for me to attack him on my next turn. By making him put less troops there, it gives me a chance to build up my forces faster than him. Now when I do attack him, I'll have a better amount of attacking troops compared to his defending troops than I would if I attacked this turn. No please, no applause is necessary."

"Does that mean you're going to attack me in North America?" Michael asked.

"No," Jim said, "As long as you promise not to attack me."

"Okay, fine," Michael said. He faced Dwight. "That means I'm going to have to attack you in Halpert Land."

"Not allowed," Dwight said. "We have a border alliance between Halpert Land and Western United States. It can only be broken by a one turn warning."

"Then I am issuing said warning," Michael said.

"You still can't attack me on your upcoming turn, you have to wait for your next turn," Dwight said.

Michael shrugged. "So, is that the end of the Ant-Jim Alliance?"

"No, just that specific border alliance," Dwight said curtly. "You are still bound by the Ant-Jim Alliance."

"Can I join that, by any chance?" Jim asked.

Dwight glared at Jim before saying, "This meeting is dismissed."

Jim put his eight troops on one of the African territories bordering the Ukraine. He attacked Michael's only Asian territory (India) with the Middle East and won, allowing him to take a card at the end of his turn.

Kevin, no longer playing, was making a full-time effort out of eating. Michael's turn was next. He put his eight troops in Western United States and ended his turn. Erin went, put three troops on New Guinea (an Australian territory), attacked Andy in Australia, failed to take over a territory, and ended her turn.

"I get fourteen troops this turn," Dwight said, before adding, "and that's not even using cards."

"Congratulations, Dwight," Jim said.

Dwight put four troops on the Ukraine, and the rest in Halpert Land.

"Halpert Land to Western United States," Dwight said coldly.

"Wait, you can't do that, there's a one turn warning," Michael pointed out.

"Wrong," Dwight said. "After one issues a one turn warning, the other playing can then attack them."

"Are you kidding me?" Michael asked.

"Just go with it," Andy said. "That's how I've always played."

"Dwight's right, Michael," Creed said.

"Everyone wants me to lose," Michael muttered.

"What was that?" Jim asked.

"Halpert Land to Western United States," Dwight said, now more forceful.

The two of them rolled over and over. Dwight's troops lowered more quickly than Michael's. Perspiration gathered on his forehead as he continued his attack.

**Dwight**

"Am I surprised that I'm having a tough time taking Western United States? No. It is the home of Molossia, a little-known micro-nation in Nevada. Greatest nation ever. Yes, it's real. Google it."

Dwight eventually won, but could only move two troops into the Western United States. Michael sank into his chair and massaged his closed eyes.

"Michael," Dwight said, "may I say that while you were a world power, you played admirably."

"Just shut up, Dwight," Michael said, turning to him with narrowed eyes. "I'm kicking you out of North America on my next turn, so I'll be a world power again."

"Never mind that," Dwight said. "Andy, I am attacking you in Asia with the Ukraine." Dwight took Andy's two Asian countries easily, and then fortified the left-over troops back to the Ukraine for defensive purposes.

"Time for the Nard Dog to step up to the plate again," Andy said. He put three troops in Eastern Australia. "Erin, I'm afraid it's the end of the line for you. Eastern Australia to New Guinea."

Erin had only one troop in New Guinea, and could therefore roll only one die. It came up 5. Andy rolled three dice. 1, 2, and 6.

"And that's it," Andy said happily. Erin took her piece off and Andy moved three pieces in. She handed him her two cards. Andy took them, and also a card from the deck, and ended his turn with a, "Good game, Erin."

"Oh good, my move," Creed said. He turned to the end of the table. "Hey, could someone pass me the lemon juice?"

Kevin took a break from eating the brownies to pass Creed the bottle. Creed unscrewed the yellow lid, put the bottle to his lips, and drank about a quarter of it without taking a breath. Jim winced at the sight. Creed slapped the bottle back down on the table and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"So, Andy only has territories in Australia, I see," Creed said. He put his three troops on Indonesia. Creed took Western Australia, Eastern Australia, and finally New Guinea, losing only one troop.

"It was a pleasure playing with you," Andy said as he pulled his final troop from the board. "Here are my five cards." He handed his cards to Creed, who smiled gratefully in return. Dwight witnessed this with his mouth hung open.

**Dwight**

"I did exactly what he wanted. He knew that if I attacked Andy in Asia, it would be easier for him to take him out and get his cards. This is really bad."

"Well, right now I have eight cards," Creed said, "which means I have to play three of them immediately, as you can never hold more than five at once."

"Very true," Andy said as he rose out of his chair. "You seem to know what you're doing, so I hereby pass on my supervision authority to you, while me and the little lady go for a walk."

"Where to?" Dwight asked as Erin got out of her chair.

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, Dwight," Andy said with an edge of annoyance. The two of them walked out together.

Creed laid down three cards. "So that means I get ten troops." He put them all on Kamchatka, which bordered Alaska, a North American territory. "Michael Scott, I issue you my one turn warning."

Dwight swung his head to face Michael, Erin no longer in between them. "You had an alliance with him too?"

"Yes," Michael said bitterly.

Dwight turned to Jim. "What about you?"

"I'm not going to confirm or deny that," Jim said.

"Come on," Dwight protested. "It's important!"

"Right now I know more than you," Jim said.

"I have five cards in my hand now," Creed said. "That means I actually have to play three more, or else I'll have six at the end of my turn when I draw another card. So-" He laid three more cards down. "This time I get fifteen troops." He put them all on Kamchatka again. "I'll end my turn." He took a card.

Andy and Erin both looked down at the concrete as they walked up the sidewalk. Their shadows bent back and forth as they passed under streetlight after streetlight. The heat and moisture hung heavy in the air.

"Times like this are really hard," Erin explained, "when he has one of his fits. And I always tell myself I'm going to break up with him, but then the next day he says he's sorry, and buys me flowers or something sweet and I just can't."

Andy nodded. "Okay. Well, what you need to ask yourself is, do you feel good about your relationship on any given average day. Does your relationship make you happy?"

"That's the thing," Erin said. There was a long pause. She turned toward a big white house as they passed it. "Do you ever wonder if anyone's watching you from windows when you walk down the street?"

Andy laughed. "I guess, sometimes. Especially if I've seen a scary movie recently."

"It's a bit eerie," Erin said. She shook her head gently. "I guess I'm happy with him, but in a dull sort've way. Not like-"

There was another pause. Andy held his breath.

"Can I just say it?" she asked quietly as she stopped walking.

Andy stopped walking also. He turned to her.

"You can say anything," he said tenderly.

"Not like when I was with you."

The words filled the night air like music.

"Oh, well, thanks," Andy said. That last word sounded watery. Tears came into his eyes. He shut them and turned away.

"I'm sorry," Erin said, mortified, "I didn't mean to-"

"No," Andy said, his voice shaky and weak. "I'm just so happy to hear you say that." He turned to her with a big smile on his face.

Erin smiled back. "Well, it's true."

"I was so much happier when we were together, too," Andy said. "I always hoped you felt the same, but I never really expected you to."

They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds.

"Could I maybe-" Erin started, "-could I kiss you?"

Andy just barely nodded. They took a step toward each other. Erin put her arms around his neck. Their lips grew close, when she suddenly pulled away.

"Is something wrong?" Andy asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes, very wrong," Erin said, looking down. "I shouldn't be doing this. I can't kiss you, not while I'm still with Gabe. That's just wrong."

Andy let out a long, frustrated exhale. "Yeah, I guess that's only right."

"I'll break up with him," Erin said happily as she looked back up at Andy. "Tomorrow. Then I can kiss you."

"Alright," Andy said enthusiastically.

"But there's still a lot I need to talk about with you before then," Erin said, suddenly somber again.

"I'm all ears," Andy said earnestly.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **And then there were three.

**Please review. Negative feedback is just as good as positive! **


	12. The Madman part two

**Author Note: **In answer to a request by fanfiction user: StaplerInYellowJello, there will be a previously unplanned epilogue to this story that will contain Jim and Dwight's conversation that led to Andy having game night in the first place.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**The Madman (part 2) **or **The Enemy of my Enemy**

**Jim**

"So I got the Ukraine from Dwight, which means he lost his five troop bonus for Europe on his turn. I tried to go for Bratton Land, but didn't make it, so he still got four extra troops for having the moon. On his turn he took the Ukraine back, and then went into Africa, taking away my three troop bonus. Meanwhile, Michael took Western United States back from Dwight, and tried to attack Kamchatka, which is Creed's Asian territory bordering Alaska, but failed to take out any pieces. Now it's Creed's turn."

Creed put five troops on Kamchatka. "Kamchatka to Alaska," he said.

"Big mistake," Michael threatened.

"I don't think so," Creed replied.

They rolled. Creed won and brought thirty troops into Alaska. Michael's eyebrows lowered and tears formed on the rims of his eyes. The sadness in Michael's face bittered into despair as Creed took Northwest Territory, Greenland, and Alberta. Creed continued to take the North American territories one by one. The only territories Michael had. He never lost a single troop as he did so, and he never said a word outside of attack commands.

**Michael**

Tears were in his eyes. "This is c_rap_. He's coming through North America like- it's not fair. No one should get that lucky. He's not taking a break."

**Creed**

"Oh yes, I'm ruthless. A madman. I will eliminate Michael, take his two cards, and then issue both Dwight and Jim a one turn warning. I told you I would win."

Creed kept rolling high numbers, over and over as he made his way through North America. "Eastern United States to Western United States," he said quietly.

Michael rolled 2. Creed rolled 5. Creed took Western United States.

"Dammit Creed!" Dwight cursed. "How are you getting so lucky? You're tearing through North America, and no one should be able to do that. Are those dice weighted?"

"Same dice you roll with," Creed said.

"We'll just see about that," Dwight said, extending his arm across the table.

"That's definitely not necessary, Dwight," Jim said.

"Western United States to Central America," Creed said.

"Wait, Creed," Michael said. A few dried tear streaks stained his face. "Don't- just don't. Give me one more turn to live. Just to make it interesting."

"No can do, Michael," Creed said. "I play to win the game."

Michael rolled. 5 and 4. Creed rolled 6, 6, and 6.

"Game over, for you, Michael," Creed said.

**Jim**

"So, apparently Creed sold his soul to the devil to win this game of Risk. Or at least beat Michael. Suddenly Dwight doesn't seem like such a big threat… "

"Cards, Michael," Creed said, reaching forward.

Michael, a determined frown on his face, threw his two cards forward. They flew a few inches before landing on the table. Creed leaned over the board and took them.

"Oh, dear me," Creed said, an unmistakably sinister smile curling his lips, "I have five cards again. I'm obliged to play three of them. That's twenty more troops." He lightly ticked three cards on the table and started arranging his twenty troops on the board. "Let's see, I'll need some in Central America, to get Jim in South America on my next turn, I'll need a bunch in Asia to oust Dwight, not to mention some on the European border to get into the Ukraine and Bratton Land. By the way, one turn warning for both of you."

Dwight and Jim looked up at each other.

**Dwight**

"Who would have thought, in just two turns Creed has become the most powerful player on the board. I can still win, but now it gets tricky. That's good, I crave the challenge. If I make another alliance with Creed, we could destroy Jim together, and I could make sure I get the bigger piece of him, and then eliminate Creed. Or, I could team up with my arch-nemesis, Jim. Together we may be able to take out Creed, and then there would be no one stopping me from finishing him off. So, whose side do I take? Isn't it obvious? There's one difference between Jim and Creed: they both hurt me in this game, but Creed was supposed to be my ally."

"Jim," Dwight said, "meet me in the hallway."

Jim rolled his eyes, got out of his chair, and followed Dwight into the hall.

"Okay," Dwight said, his voice a scratchy whisper. "Creed could go for either of us right now."

"I know," Jim said shortly. "He played a good game. He's going to win."

"We can't let him do that!" Dwight protested. Jim's eyebrows raised. "Don't you see, one of us is going to have to take third, unless we team up. If we converge, then one of us will take first, and the other second. That's better than risking third."

"You really take this seriously, don't you, Dwight?" Jim asked.

"Don't act like you don't," Dwight hissed back.

Jim's eyes widened, and his lips curved down. He bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Listen," Dwight said, his voice finally striking a reasonable tone, "if we keep attacking each other, ruining our continent bonuses, we'll be easy kill for Creed. That's how he got so powerful in the first place."

Jim nodded. "You're right. So, truce?"

"For now," Dwight said, "until Creed goes down."

"What're we going to do?" Jim asked.

"We have to agree not to attack each other," Dwight said.

"Mmm, no," Jim said thoughtfully. "You've got a territory in Africa. I need to fight you out of there in order to get that continent bonus back to fight Creed."

"Right." Dwight nodded. "So, you get me out of Africa, and then we stop fighting each other. I'll do war with Creed in Asia, I already have territories there."

"I'll come from South America into North America," Jim said. "It'll be a stretch, since he has such strong forces in Central America."

"What about Australia?" Dwight asked.

"Can you go down there?" Jim asked.

"Yes," Dwight said pensively. "But first, could you clear a path for me?"

"You mean attack a trail from India to Australia?" Jim asked.

"Exactly, and then pull your troops out, so I can cut down easily into Australia," Dwight said. "That means I won't be able to focus so much on Asia, though."

"That's fine," Jim said. "We need to worry more about his continent bonuses than anything else."

"He has three cards," Dwight said. "There's a chance he may play them on his next turn, and if he does, he's getting twenty-five bonus armies."

"I know," Jim said. "We've got to hope for the best."

"The Anti-Creed Alliance is born." Dwight extended a hand to Jim. Jim looked at it for a second before clasping it with his own.

"Best of luck, Sergeant," Jim said.

"Comrade," Dwight replied, coolly.

The two of them walked with straightened posture and synced footsteps into the game room. Jim sank into his chair, letting out a stream of air like a silent whistle. "Okay, five troops." He put three of them in Venezuela (which bordered Central America) and two in India (which bordered Siam, the only territory bordering Australia).

"I'm attacking North Africa with Egypt," Jim said. He grabbed the red dice and rolled them in the box. Dwight took one white die and tossed it in after.

**Creed**

"So they're still fighting among themselves? This is going to be easier than I thought."

"Africa is once again yours," Dwight said as he took his troop off of North Africa.

"Now I'm going from Venezuela to Central America," Jim said.

Creed's eyebrows raised, deepening the wrinkles in his forehead. "Really, not Europe?"

"Nope," Jim said. "Dwight's not the only player left."

"Those're bad odds," Creed observed. "Ten troops in Central America, six in Venezuela."

"Yeah," Jim said slowly, unsurely.

There was a pause.

Dwight looked up at Jim wonderingly as Jim's eyes intensified with thought. He shook his head, let out a little, "Nah," and rolled three red dice.

"Very bold," Creed said, grabbing the two dice and rolling them, "I can't say I don't respect that."

Creed won on both rolls. They rolled again, both of them losing one. They rolled again, and Jim won twice. They rolled again, and each lost one. They rolled again, and Jim lost, leaving him with only one piece in Venezuela.

"Well, can't attack anymore there," Jim said, "but, India to Siam looks a lot better. Five on five." He rolled, and won twice. He rolled again, losing won and winning won. He rolled again, and won twice, winning the battle.

Jim moved three troops into Siam. "I guess I'll fortify two of the Siam troops to Venezuela and end my turn."

"My turn," Dwight said, his voice full of determination. "I get thirteen troops. And I'm putting them all in Mongol-" his voice trailed off.

**Dwight**

"I was thinking of taking Australia this turn, giving me another continent. Mongolia borders China, which borders Siam, which borders Australia. I could make it if I put all thirteen troops in Mongolia, but then I would have no chance of getting into North America. Also, without Jim's help, I wouldn't be able to get Australia, and he deserves to get something out of it more than me. Edit that last line out."

"I'm actually putting six troops in Mongolia," Dwight said, "and seven in Iceland." (Iceland was a European territory bordering Greenland, a North American territory). "Mongolia to China." Dwight won the battle after several rolls, losing one piece. "China to Siam." He lost two pieces, allowing him only to bring two more into Siam.

"Dwight," Creed said, interrupting the campaign, "you can only roll one die if you attack me in Australia, you almost certainly will lose. Tell you what, I'll start up a new alliance with you right now, and we can take out Jim together. I guarantee you second place."

Jim covered his mouth with his right hand as he looked casually toward Dwight. Dwight turned to him, a very slight grimace on his face. He nodded.

"No deal," Dwight said, turning back to Creed. "Yes, it's a risk, but that's what the game's called, isn't it?"

Creed shrugged.

"Siam to Indonesia."

Dwight rolled 3. He lowered his eyes into his hand as Creed rolled. 2.

"Dwight, you won," Jim said, smiling.

Dwight raised his head and looked cautiously into the box. "Yes!" he proclaimed. "Ha! Suck on it, Creed."

"Will do," Creed said, sounding jolly enough. A flicker of disgust passed over Dwight's face.

"Iceland to Greenland," Dwight said.

"You'll never win it," Creed warned. "I have ten in Greenland and-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough of your speeches, old man," Dwight interrupted. "Just roll." He tossed three dice in the box.

The battle did not end in Dwight's favor. Greenland and Iceland both had one troop left when the dust cleared.

"End turn," Dwight said humbly as he took a card.

It was Creed's turn. He laughed as he placed three cards on the table. "Well, gentlemen, it was nice playing with you both, but it's time for you to learn why Creed Bratton never loses. I get twenty-five bonus troops, along with five from North America, and six for the number of territories I own." He placed his thirty-six pieces very, very slowly in different territories in Asia, Australia, and North America.

**Creed**

"Oh yes, I'm loving this. The slower and more painful for them, the better."

"First thing's first, I'm taking Australia back," Creed said. "New Guinea to Indonesia." He beat Dwight out of Australia. Then he took all of Asia. Next he went to the Ukraine, which he took easily, and then he went up to Bratton Land, where he reclaimed his namesake. He took Egypt in Africa, and Venezuela in South America. All the while he drank deeply from his lemon juice.

"I think I've worked you two over enough for one turn," Creed chuckled as he lowered the near-empty lemon juice to the table. "I guess I'll end there." He took a card.

"Jim, we're finished," Dwight said desperately. "Creed has three continents now, we don't have any now."

"I know," Jim said, "but I have something better." He laid three cards down on the table. "I can turn these in for thirty bonus troops."

Dwight looked down at his hand, where he held his cards. An inspired smile formed on his face. "I can turn in cards on my turn, too."

"See, and to think you get all worked up for nothing," Jim said, a relaxed smile on his face. "Creed only has one card, so he won't be turning any in for a little while. I'll get Africa and South America back, and also take out at least one of his North America territories, if you can be sure to get him out of the moon and Europe, and then take out at least a piece of Asia and Australia, so he doesn't get the continent bonuses."

"Good plan," Dwight said, lightly impressed.

"Okay," Jim said, placing his troops in Africa and South America. "Ready, Creed?"  
"As ready as I'll ever be," Creed said.

Jim took back Africa, as he intended, and then got South America. He brought his troops up into North America, and carved out a significant portion.

"He's all yours now, Dwight," Jim said at the end of his turn as he took a card.

Dwight laid down his cards. "Thirty-five troops," he announced. He began to place them on the moon and Europe. He took back Bratton Land, and then Ukraine. He made a path of destruction through Southern Asia and into Australia, where he took Indonesia.

"I think we've worked him over enough, don't you, Jim?" Dwight gloated as Creed took the final piece off of Indonesia.

"Absolutely," Jim agreed. "I don't think he'll be making any come-backs."

"Oh we'll just see about that," Creed said as Dwight took a card.

Just then, the front door opened. Andy and Erin walked in, both of them with wide smiles on their faces.

"How're things on the battlefield?" Andy asked as he stepped into the game room.

"Jim and I just crushed Creed," Dwight said proudly.

"Really?" Andy asked. "Great. Well, not for you Creed, but-"

"I'm not through yet, make no mistake," Creed said. "How many troops do I get this turn?"

"Six," Jim and Dwight said simultaneously.

Creed put them on New Guinea and took Indonesia back.

On his turn Jim took the rest of North America. Dwight took all of Asia, and a piece of Australia so Creed wouldn't get the bonus. He was about to go for the rest of Australia when he looked up to Jim and asked, "Would you like to do the honors on your next turn?"

"Oh no, that's fine," Jim said. "Don't give him a chance to strike back."

"He can't, he only has two cards," Dwight said. "Besides, I've got Asia, Europe, and the moon. That's worth sixteen troops each turn. You've got Africa, South America, and North America, that's only worth ten. You should take Australia. That's how spoils of war works."

Jim nodded a few times. "Why thank you, Dwight."

**Jim**

"Oh my gosh, are you getting this? This just may be Dwight's great emotional break-through. I never thought Risk-therapy would be a good treatment of intense psychological disorder, but obviously I was wrong."

"Or, neither of you could attack me in Australia and you could let me rebuild my forces," Creed said. "You know- just for giggles."

"You think we should give him a break?" Jim asked sarcastically.

"No!" Dwight said, almost shouting. "What are you, an idiot? Why should we let him live when he almost destroyed us?"

**Jim**

"Nope, never mind. It's the same Dwight."

Creed went, failed to win a territory, and ended his turn. Jim sent a force through southern Asia, and took Australia.

"Well, I guess it's just down to me and you," Jim said as he took Creed's cards. "I'll pull my troops out of Asia so you can take it back."

"And after that, our truce is officially over," Dwight said. "And good riddance."

* * *

**Reviews: a small thing that the reader can give to make the writer's efforts feel worthwhile.**


	13. Past Bedtime

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Past Bedtime**

Kevin sat on top of the amp, slapping the tops of the bongos, laying down an intoxicatingly exciting rhythm. Michael beat-boxed with his mouth, almost always staying in time with Kevin. Creed leaned against the wall, clapping his hands every two beats. Erin sat on Andy's bed, playing three chords over and over with a huge white smile. Andy sat on the bed next to her, playing intense melodies on a slick electric guitar, with shards of light shooting from its body.

Erin, Andy, Kevin, and Creed sang together in unison (Michael's beat-boxing disallowed him to participate):

"_Playing Risk downstairs in the room of games_

_With Dwight Schrute dressed-up just the same_

_As Napoleon, or some other guy_

_Who would've fought way up high_

_on his horse_

_and of course_

_Creed planned with all his might_

_Oh- and he really put up a fight_

_But he was put down by Jim and Dwight_

_Hey, hey, hey, we may not have won _

_But hey, hey, hey at least we're done_

'_Cuz Dwight and Jim have just begun_

_and might never actually finish_

_No one cares who has Halpert Land and_

_Creed was sort've banned and_

_his turns were just way too long_

_Hey, but don't get me wro-ong_

_We're happy here singing this so-ong."_

**Andy**

"Pretty cool, right? Me and Erin got bored so we went upstairs to play guitar and sing, and then Kevin came up and drummed, and then Michael came up and then Creed. We've been at it for about two hours, and we sound pretty good. We're going to be recording the next take."

Two hours later, back downstairs, the game dragged on.

Jim sat with his elbows on the table, his hands supporting his chin. His eyes rarely opened more than half-way. Dark bags began to define themselves. Dwight's eyes flickered open and close every few minutes, in an effort to stay awake.

"Dwight," Jim yawned. "_Please _just make a move. It's been like, twenty minutes."

"It's been five, moron," Dwight said.

"Dwight," Jim started, but then stopped. "I have nothing to say."

Dwight pulled a golden watch out of his jacket. "Yep, four minutes and fifty-three seconds."  
"Have you really been using that to time your moves the whole game?" Jim asked.

"Haven't you seen be pull it out like, ten times this hour?" Dwight scoffed.

"Okay, I'm a little tired right now," Jim snapped. "I woke up at six o'clock on Friday morning, and it's now two o'clock, Saturday morning."

**Jim**

"The world has changed a lot. I now have the moon, North America, and- what was the other one. That one I had originally. South America. Dwight has Europe, Africa, Australia, and we're currently fighting over Asia. It's been a long-" he yawned mid-sentence for five seconds. "Sorry, I'm just _really _tired. Pam already went to bed. I think turning in cards is worth 120 troops now."

**Dwight**

"Am I going to give up? Never. Is Jim going to give up? Probably not. Is this really so bad? This is nothing. I once played a game of Risk for thirty-seven hours. True story."

Andy trudged down the stairs, followed closely by Erin. His eyes looked sunk in a bit from tiredness as he walked into the game room.

"Okay guys, you're going to have to wrap this up. I need to get some sleep," Andy said, a gentle smile on his face.

"Sorry, no can do, Andy," Dwight replied. "I refuse to surrender."

"Jim?" Andy asked, almost pleading.

Jim leaned into his chair and massaged his eyes with the back of his knuckles. "Sorry, Andy."

"Everyone else has gone home," Andy pointed out irritably. "Couldn't you continue this game later? Leave the board here and I'll bring it in just as it is to work on Monday."

"No way," Dwight said. "Jim could come over and mess with it."

"Oh yeah, right, because that's totally something I would do," Jim replied.

"Here," Andy said, closing his eyes, "how about we take a picture of the board, and that way you'll know it wasn't tampered with."

"What about our cards?" Jim asked.

"Leave your cards on the board," Andy said. "You'll get them when I bring the board in to work on Monday, and you can finish there. It'll be cool, everyone'll be able to watch you two duke it out."

"Hmm, I suppose if it would give me the chance to demolish Jim in front of the whole office…" Dwight said, trailing off at the end of the thought. "Okay, I'll do it. Armistice?"

"Armistice," Jim agreed. Dwight and he stood up and leaned across the table to shake hands. When they sat back down they both took out their phones to take a picture of the board.

Jim turned his head to the side just slightly before looking back at his phone, angling it up, and taking a picture of Dwight in his uniform. He sent the picture to Pam.

* * *

**Author Note: **Thanks for reading this far! There's just one chapter left (plus an epilogue). Please review if you've made it this far.

**Next Chapter: **Pam's offer, the final showdown of Jim and Dwight, Kevin's reward, and Erin's response to Gabe.


	14. The Final Showdown

**Author Note: **Thanks a lot for reading up to the last chapter! Just as a note, this chapter is the longest one yet, but it keeps itself rolling along, so hopefully you won't get bored!

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**The Final Showdown**

Andy sat alone in the office. The only sound was the light humming of his computer, lonely-sounding in the big room. Gentle shades of yellow and pink came in through the windows, making the room glow softly.

**Andy**

"I've been here for a little while. I actually haven't heard from Erin since Friday, or, technically, Saturday, so that's not a good sign. I'm really nervous about hearing what she has to say about Gabe. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, so I came here."

At the turn of the hour, the office began to fill up. Little noises like coughing, stapling, chatter, and copying built up to fill the room. Andy tapped the fingers of his left hand frantically on his desk. Every few moments he looked over toward reception, which remained empty.

Dwight was already at his desk when Jim and Pam came in. He looked up at Jim as he took a seat. "I hope you have mentally recouped from our previous battle of Risk, and are ready for round two."

"Risk?" Jim asked, tensing his eyebrows. "Oh, right. I actually haven't thought much about it since Saturday."

Pam scoffed. Jim swerved his head to face her. "What?"

"No, nothing," Pam teased.

**Pam**

"I haven't been able to get him to shut up about it! He kept on re-telling me the game, and asking me for advice on how to win." She started to laugh before saying, "He got this book, it's- you'd have to see it." She smiled for a second. "Maybe one day I'll play a game with Jim."

"I figured you would wear your military outfit to work today," Jim said.

"It's not an outfit, it's a uniform," Dwight corrected, "and I have it stored away for safekeeping until the time comes."

"When are we going to play, anyway?" Jim asked.

"After work, obviously," Dwight replied. "We're not wasting company time to play a board game."

"Sorry for asking," Jim said quietly. "So, does Andy have the board?"  
Dwight turned around to face Andy's desk. "Hey, Andy!" he shouted.

"Dwight, do you really need to shout?" Jim asked.

Dwight turned back to Jim as Andy turned to Dwight. "Shouting is a sign of authority. Does an army general speak to his soldiers? Does a manager of a construction site quietly speak to his subordinates?"

"Do two partner snipers on a roof whisper to each other?" Pam interjected. Jim snickered.

Dwight barred his teeth for a moment. "Sure, little voices have their place in making wise-ass jokes, or empty-headed flirting, but it has no place in the life of a real man."

"Dwight, you almost never shout," Jim said. "So what does that make you, then?"

"Dwight, did you want to talk to me or not?" Andy asked, annoyed.

Dwight turned back to Andy. "Yes. Do you have the board?"

Andy hunched his back down so he could reach under his desk. He pulled out a glossy cardboard box with the Risk logo and battlefield pictures on it. "I've got the box here."

"Do you have a picture to show who had what territories, and how many troops they had there?" Dwight asked.

"Absolutely."

"Do you know who had what cards?"

"Jim's cards are in my left pocket, and yours are in my right."

"And do you have any back-up, in case my cards fall out?"

"Uh-" Andy started, but stopped as his eyes flickered over to reception. Erin was taking her seat, and Gabe was going toward his office. Erin looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "Hold that thought, Dwight."

Andy rose to his feet and walked toward reception. Erin got out of her seat and walked around the desk to meet him. Jim and Pam turned to watch as the two of them stood next to each other.

"So, what's going on?" Andy asked. "Why didn't you answer my texts or calls?"

"I'm so sorry," Erin said, "but-" she turned her head to look at Jim and Pam, who immediately swung their heads back and continued to work, "could we discuss this somewhere else? Like the stairwell?"

"Sure," Andy said.

"Are you ever going to answer my question?" Dwight asked, checking his watch. "I don't have all the time in the world, you know."

Andy and Erin walked toward the stairwell, ignoring to Dwight.

"Are you sure you don't want to just play now?" Jim asked Dwight. "You know, just to get it over with."

"Once again- company time. If you had any integrity, you would respect it," Dwight said.

"Right, because you would know a lot about respect," Jim said. "Like screaming at someone who sits five feet away to get their attention."

**Jim**

"I know this sounds really stupid, but I'm actually pretty anxious to finish our game. I bought this book over the weekend called 'Total Diplomacy: The Art of Winning Risk'. And I read it. All 300 pages of it. It was a lot to digest. I want to play soon, so I don't forget."

Andy and Erin stood on the platform between two sets of stairs in the stairwell. Their voices were lowered, almost whispering.

"I was going to break up with him," Erin said, "and in the morning I was talking to him. But I just couldn't make myself say it. He was acting like he was the victim, and he was like a poor hurt puppy, and I couldn't say it. I was actually apologizing by the end of the conversation. I couldn't- I didn't want to hurt him."

"But what about me?" Andy asked. "Why are you okay with hurting me?"

"Believe me, I am not okay with it," Erin said sympathetically. "I- I'm just so much more comfortable with you."

"Well, thanks, but," Andy started, trying to find words. He took in a deep breath. "I _really _care about you, Erin. You can stay with Gabe if you want, and I'll wait for you for as long as it takes. But it's going to hurt, so I'd really appreciate it if you could decide what you want."

"I want you," Erin said immediately. "I really do. I don't want to hurt you but- I can't bring myself to hurt Gabe either."

Andy took another deep breath. "No matter what, you're going to be hurting one of us. It's up to you who you want that to be."

Andy turned toward the stairs and walked up, leaving Erin alone.

**Andy**

The rims of his eyes shone with unshed tears. "How can she do this to me?" He lowered his head gently into his hand and cried.

A few minutes later, Erin returned silently to her chair. She looked over at Andy, who was staring at his computer screen. Her shoulders sagged and she let out a long breath of air. She turned her head to the right and the sadness in her face turned to mild surprise. "Package," she said to herself.

She stood up to see who the box was addressed to. "Kevin," she called out, "package for you."

Kevin got out of his chair and walked quickly to reception. "Ooh! That's a big box."

"I hope it's something good," Erin said perkily.

Kevin pressed his palms on either side of the box and lifted it up. "It's heavy."

He turned to walk it back to his desk.

"See that box?" Pam whispered to Jim, putting one hand on his arm and pointing with the other to Kevin.

"Yeah?" Jim said.

Pam smirked. "That would probably be big enough to fit all of the brownies you're going to have to make me."

"Oh right," Jim said, disappointment in his voice. "Good thing you're a good wife, who loves her husband _so much _that-"

"Nuh- uh, nice try, Halpert," Pam said. "You offered to make them."

"I am definitely not looking forward to doing that," Jim said.

Back at his desk, Kevin ripped the tape that sealed the top of the box. He opened the two lids slowly. When he looked inside a smile broke across his face and he nodded his head. "Nice. Creed," he said to himself.

The box was filled, almost to the top, with gummy bears.

**Creed**

"Let it never be said that the friends of Creed Bratton go unrewarded."

**Kevin**

"Am I glad I went to game night?" He paused, and then slowly let a smile lift his lips.

Pam brushed her hair out of her face and continued to write on the paper in front of her.

"I am so bored," Jim said slowly. He turned to Pam. "What're you drawing there?"

"Oh, nothing," Pam said sneakily, looking up at Jim with glowing eyes.

"Mrs. Halpert, are you keeping secrets from me?" Jim asked.

"I would never hide anything from you," Pam replied, smiling.

"How about this, I forgive you for hiding whatever you're hiding from me if you give me something to do."

"Bother Dwight," Pam suggested.

"No," Dwight replied immediately.

Jim shrugged. "Nothing I can do now."

"You'll think of something," Pam said as she turned back to her work.

**Pam**

She smiled ecstatically. "I'm writing another comic! I'm really excited, but I don't want to show Jim until I'm done, so it'll be better when he finds out about it. It's called Halpert Man versus DeathSchrute, and I know that sounds really stupid, but it's based on something that Jim said, years ago. Somehow he and Dwight were arguing about who the best superhero was, and Dwight said Batman was the best because of his famous rivalry with the Joker, and Jim said it wasn't as well know as the Halpert Man and DeathSchrute rivalry, and then Dwight got angry. So, it should be great."

Gabe walked up casually to the reception desk. Erin stared blankly at her computer screen.

"What're you up to," Gabe asked lightly as he leaned against the desk.

"I'm reading 'A Doll's House,' by Henrik Ibsen," Erin replied dully.

"Ibsen?" Gabe repeated. "That doesn't seem much like-"

"A friend recommended it to me," Erin replied shortly.

"Right," Gabe said, standing back up straight. "Well, I just came to say that I forgive you for what happened on Friday."

"You already forgave me," Erin said flatly, looking up at him, "and then you said you didn't want me to mention it again."

Gabe tried to chuckle a bit as he spoke, "Well, it was sort've a weird night-" he took a step back.

A man in a blue collared shirt came up to reception with a long cardboard package in his hand.

"Just leave that on the desk," Erin said politely. The man nodded and put the package down as Gabe walked away.

Erin stood up to read who it was addressed to. She smiled. "Package for Sergeant Jim Halpert."

Jim looked up from his computer. "_Sergeant _Halpert?" He smiled and walked toward the desk to get it. "This is sort've a long package."

"I hope it's something good," Erin said excitedly.

Jim walked back to his desk with it. "Dwight, is this from you?"

"Please," Dwight scoffed. "Did Hitler came to Churchill's surprise birthday party?"

Jim took a seat with the package on his lap. "Andy, is this from you?"

Andy looked over and shook his head. "Nein, not me."

"Just open it," Pam prodded.

Jim turned to Pam. "This isn't from you, is it?"

Pam shrugged.

"Your smile gives it away," Jim said as he ripped the tape off of the opening.

Pam laughed, "It does not."

"Oh. My," Jim said as he opened the box. Inside was a military hat, a folded jacket, pants, gloves, and boots. "This looks just like Dwight's uniform."

"Let me see," Dwight said, leaning over to see it.

"I don't think so," Jim said, shutting the lid of the box. "Did Churchill let Hitler see his surprise birthday presents?"

Dwight exhaled frustratedly and sat back in his chair.

Jim opened the box up again. "This is really something. How long did it take you to find this?"

"It's got military ribbons you can put on the jacket yourself, in that plastic bag there," Pam said, pointing.

"You do realize there is no way I'm wearing this," Jim said.

"Oh come on, do you have any idea how much that cost?" Pam asked.

"Sorry, but maybe next time you'll ask me before doing my clothes shopping for me," Jim said, putting the package under the table.

"What if I struck up an offer?" Pam asked.

"Believe me, there's no way you're getting me into that outfit."

"What if I said that if you wear that uniform when you play Risk against Dwight, I won't make you bake me brownies," Pam said.

Jim looked up at the camera with raised eyebrows.

**Jim**

"How can I say 'no' to that?"

A few hours passed. Jim slouched back in his chair with his hands behind his head. He slowly lowered his eyelids, and they stayed shut for several minutes.

"Jim, could you pass me a pencil," Pam shouted loud enough for Jim's eyes to snap open and for him to jump in his chair.

"Pam, do you really have to-" he stopped when he saw the sly look on his face, "I MEAN YES, I DO HAVE A PENCIL."

"Oh good, does it have a good eraser?" Pam shouted back.

"That depends," Jim shouted. "I have a number two pencil with no eraser, and a number three pencil with a good eraser."

"I guess I'll take the number three pencil," Pam yelled.

"Sorry, give me one second," Dwight said as he lowered the phone he was holding to his desk. He snarled at Jim and Pam, "Would you two keep it down?"

"I thought you said real men shouted," Jim said loudly.

"You did say that, Dwight," Andy chimed in, nearly-shouting.

Dwight raised the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry about that, I-"

"Dwight, you should shout," Jim shouted, "or your client won't think you're a real man."

"What's with all the shouting?" Kevin yelled from accounting.

"Quiet, Kevin," Angela snapped.

Kevin's mischievous smile faded into a bored non-expression.

"Pam," Erin shouted from reception, "if you still need a pencil, I have a whole drawer of them."

"No, I think I'm good," Pam shouted back. "Jim gave me one."

"Alrighty then," Erin shouted.

"Excuse me, sir," Dwight said, almost shouting himself. He slammed the phone on the table. "What can I do to get you all to shut up?"

"You could play Risk with me in the conference room," Jim shouted.

"Fine," Dwight spat back. He put the phone back to his ear. "We'll talk later." He shoved the phone into the receiver.

"You've got to get into your suit," Pam yelled as Jim got to his feet.

"I think we can stop shouting now," Jim said, the quiet in his voice emphasized by how loud the office had been a moment before.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Pam said.

"Now we know how to get Dwight to do what we want in an even easier and more efficient manner than ever before," Jim said. He turned to Andy. "Could you please set up the board for us while we go change into our military outfits in the bathroom?"

"Absolutely, good sir," Andy said, nodding.

Jim kicked his chair out of the way and bent his knees so he could reach the box under his desk. He stood back up and said, "See you in a few minutes, Dwight."

* * *

Five minutes later Jim and Dwight walked back into the main part of the office. They wore nearly identical outfits: big black Major hats, navy blue Sergeant jackets with gold buttons going down the middle, numerous military decorations on their left breast, a big white belt with a sheath on the left hip, and pants that fit into shiny black boots. Dwight's face was dead-serious. Jim's face was a goofy grin.

Pam laughed at the sight of them. "Oh my god, this is perfect."

"What are you laughing at?" Jim asked. Almost everyone in the office turned toward them. Most of them looked either amazed or disgusted.

Dwight got to the conference room door first. He opened it and stepped inside, nearly slamming the door in Jim's face.

"Just finished setting up," Andy said. "Jim, you sit on the side of the table closest to the door, and Dwight, you sit at the other end. Your cards are in the table by where you sit."

Dwight started to walk towards his end but stopped when Jim said, "Dwight." He turned around to look at Jim.

Jim extended a hand. "Good luck."

Dwight started Jim directly in the eyes for a second, looked down at his hand, and then shook his head. He turned and walked to the end of the table.

Jim shrugged his shoulders and lowered his arm. He sat down at his end.

"As much as I would love to supervise this epic duel," Andy said, "I have to get back to work. So I'll just leave you two-"

"I can stay to make sure they behave themselves," Pam said from the doorway.

"No way," Dwight said angrily. "She's biased."

"Dwight, I'm not going to cheat," Jim said. "We don't need someone to watch us. If Pam wants to see the game, there's no reason why she shouldn't."

Dwight rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's just get this over with."

"I couldn't agree more," Jim said. "It's your turn."

* * *

By five thirty, a crowd was formed around the table in the conference room. The crowd included Michael, Phyllis, Angela, Kevin, Oscar, Meredith, Kelly, Toby, and Ryan. Pam stood close behind Jim, to his left. Creed had set up a small table in the corner of the room, where he was accepting bets on the winner of the game. People came up to him every few minutes to either create or alter their bets.

**Creed**

"Who do I think is going to win? Between you, me, and the camera, I've known the tall one would win from the beginning."

**Pam**

"It's been a really long game. They both have good strategies: Jim puts a majority of his troops on the battling fronts, while Dwight keeps most of his troops on the home front. So Jim usually easily comes through Dwight's forces, only to be pushed back when he gets a few territories in by Dwight's hiding troops. It's been going back and forth for a long time."

Jim laid three cards on the table. "That's 175 bonus troops, plus my continent bonus, plus my territories."  
"Yes, we can all see what you have," Dwight said irritably.

"Do I detect fear?" Jim asked. "Because you know that I own five of seven continents, and-"

"I've been in worse situations than this in this game," Dwight interrupted fiercely. "I have Asia, the biggest continent, and Australia, the most difficult to reach continent. If you bring your troops in, they'll just be stopped by my superpowers lurking in the inner-Asian countries."

"We'll see about that," Jim said. He put over two hundred troops on Alaska (small scraps of paper were used to signify a twenty-troop piece). "Alaska to Kamchatka."

* * *

Andy paced the parking lot alone.

**Andy**

"Yeah, I'm going to go watch the game. Just not yet." He sighed. "I guess I'm afraid that I'll see Erin again. I think I might cry if I do."

Erin stood alone in the stairwell where Andy and she had talked earlier that day. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

**Erin**

"I don't like to hurt people. I know what I want, but for some reason it doesn't feel right yet.

* * *

Andy walked into the conference room as Jim took Siam.

"So, what's going on?" Andy asked.

"Place your bets over here," Creed called.

Pam turned to Andy. "Jim just took over four hundred troops through Asia, and beat both of Dwight's two-hundred piece Asia superpowers. He's about to go into Australia, but he's weakened now."

"Siam to Indonesia," Jim said.

"You dare to enter Australia?" Dwight mocked. "I have a total of fifty troops there, and you're coming in with only forty-nine."

"Well, in Indonesia you only have twenty," Jim said. "I'm just taking this one territory at a time. We can talk about if it was a good idea or not after I take you out this turn."

Dwight wiped sweat from his forehead as Jim rolled. The two territories wore each other down, until Jim's finally won and came into Australia.

"Three territories left," Jim said. "This game is finally wrapping itself up."

"That's what you think," Dwight said, a confident smirk on his face as he looked down at the cards in his hand.

"Indonesia to New Guinea," Jim said.

"Oh, he's going to get you so good, Dwight," Michael declared happily.

Dwight looked at Michael. "Obviously he is, he has fifteen more troops than me in New Guinea."

"That's what I was thinking," Jim said. They both rolled. At the end of the battle, Jim's troops were victorious, but now down to twenty-one.

"New Guinea to Eastern Australia."

The two men rolled until Jim's troops won again and pulled into Eastern Australia. His attacking troops were now down to nine. Dwight had ten troops in Western Australia, his last territory.

"So, this is it," Jim said dramatically. "Even if I don't get you this turn, there's no way you're making a come-back."

"Unless he has cards to turn in," Pam warned. She looked at Dwight. "How many cards do you have?"

Dwight laughed evilly for a few seconds. "How many cards? I have five! That means I'm guaranteed to turn in on the next turn. That's 180 troops. Take a look at your board, Jim! Almost every territory you possess is guarded by just one troop. If you fail to beat me now, I will put those 180 troops, plus three more that I will receive automatically, down on Western Australia and I will go through your territories one by one and win this game on the same turn."

"Yeah, that changes things a bit," Pam said.

"So, this battle determines the outcome of the game," Jim said reflectively. The room became silent. Jim took in a long deep breath. "Okay, Dwight, let's go."

He rolled three dice into the over-turned Risk box. 2, 3, and 1. Jim grimaced. "Ouch. That could've been much better."

Dwight let out a single laugh. He rolled his two dice. 6 and 1.

"That's one for you and one for Dwight," Pam said. She placed a hand on Jim's shoulder as Dwight and he took a piece off.

"Again," Jim said. He rolled 4, 6, and 2. Dwight rolled 5 and 4. They both took a piece off.

"Seven to eight," Jim said. "I was hoping my odds would look better by now. Alright, roll again." He rolled 4, 2, and 5. Dwight rolled 1 and 1.

"That's more like it," Jim said with a smile as Dwight took off two pieces.

"You may have taken the upper hand, Jim, but you will still lose this game," Dwight said hotly.

"Sure, Dwight, whatever you say," Jim said. There were beads of sweat on his forehead. "Again." He rolled 3, 1, and 4. Dwight rolled 4 and 2.

"You both lose one again," Pam said. They both took off one.

"Again." Jim rolled 6, 6, and 3. Dwight rolled 3 and 2.

"Yes, double win for you, Jim," Pam said excitedly.

"Hey Jim, tell your little cheerleader to shut her trap," Dwight said harshly.

"Dwight, that was uncalled for," Jim said, putting a hand over Pam's. "If this is getting to be too much for you, I will allow you to surrender right now."

"I will never surrender," Dwight said. "Keep on attacking me, if you want."

Jim rolled 6 and 2. Dwight rolled 6 and 5.

"Double loss for you, my jaded nemesis," Dwight said cockily. "Still sure you want to continue? Why turn one bad roll into a bad streak?"

"Nice try, Dwight," Jim said. He rolled again. 1 and 1. "Damn," he whispered as Dwight rolled. 3 and 2.

"Double kill again," Dwight declared proudly. "You can only roll two dice now."

Jim took off two of his troops.

Jim rolled 5 and 2. Dwight rolled 5 and 1.

"You both lose one," Pam said quietly. "You can only roll on die now, Jim."

Jim took in a long breath. "This could be my last roll, everyone," he said to the crowd. "So I'd just like to say thank you all for coming, and I will be signing autographs near the reception desk after the game." He rolled 4. Dwight rolled 2.

**Dwight**

"This next roll is it. The final showdown. Am I scared? Look into my eyes, and you tell me." He gave the camera a hard, threatening look.

"You can only roll one die now," Jim said. "If you lose this roll, you lose your last troop, and the game. As a true gentlemen, I must ask: do you have any last words?"

Dwight laughed. "_When_ you lose this roll, then you will be down to one troop in Eastern Australia, and therefore you will be unable to attack. Then I get 183 troops, and I will dominate the board, taking over your terribly defended territories. As a superior strategist to yourself, I refuse to let you have any last words. You don't deserve them."

"I think my favorite quality about you is your dazzling kindness," Jim said sarcastically.

"Just roll, you imbecile."

Jim rolled. 4.

Dwight rolled. 3.

There was a pause.

"Jim wins," Pam said happily.

Jim took Dwight's last piece off of the board and moved his single troop into Western Australia.

"Great game, guys," Andy said. He started to clap. Kelly joined in, then Michael, then Kevin, then the rest of them. The clapping continued as Jim and Dwight rose to their feet. They walked around the board, toward each other. Jim extended his hand, and Dwight took it enthusiastically. They shook.

"You have proven yourself to be a worthy competitor," Dwight acknowledged.

Jim nodded. "You're okay, too. Play again sometime?"

Dwight scoffed, but then made his face serious again. He nodded. "Maybe."

**Jim **and **Dwight**

Jim sat to the left, Dwight to the right. They both still wore their military uniforms. Jim started, "I think that's the most amount of time I ever put into one game. In all honesty, I'm just glad it's over."

Dwight continued. "In the end, Jim and I played two different games. I played with planned strategy and calculated chance, he played with foolish daring and spontaneity."

"Thanks, Dwight."

"Oh, be quiet."

Jim smiled at the camera, Dwight maintained a professional frown.

* * *

Andy looked at his feet as he walked down the stairwell. When he reachedthe platform, he nearly bumped into Erin, who wrapped her arms around his neck. Andy looked down at her and smiled hugely. "Whoa, Erin."

"Whoa, Andy," she imitated playfully.

"What about Gabe?" he asked as she drew in closer to him.

"Screw Gabe," she said, her eyes lit with joy.

Andy's mouth dropped as his eyebrows shot up. "I can't believe you just said that."

"Me neither," Erin laughed. "Just kiss me."

They kissed.

* * *

**Like all writers, reviews are very important to me. Please take a moment to write one! Thank you.**


	15. Epilogue

**Author Note: **This epilogue was made in response to a request by user StaplerInYellowJello

**Another Author Note: **Interstingly enough, there is a fanfiction on another site called "A Game of Global Domination," involving a game of Risk between characters of the Office that was posted about a year ago. I found it because I was typing in "Global Domination" and "Dwight" into Google to find my story, as I was too lazy to go to fictionpress to get it. This is nothing more than a great coincidence, I promise I had no idea this story existed until I was about ten chapters into my own fanfiction. I figured I'd let you know.

* * *

**The Epilogue that is Actually a Prologue Taped onto the End of the Story**

**Two Weeks Ago**

"Where's Pam?" Dwight demanded.

"Dwight, remember what I was telling you about manners yesterday?" Jim asked as he took a seat at his desk.

"Ha ha ha, very cute," Dwight said. "For your information, Pam could be fired for coming into work late if she doesn't have a good reason."

"First of all, no she couldn't," Jim said, unpacking his stuff, "and second, it's none of your business, so just don't worry about it."

The two of them stared at their computers for a while.

"Besides, it's something sensitive to me," Jim said, his voice cracking at the end of the sentence. He lowered his head into his palm.

"What happened, Jim?" Dwight asked (a note of concern maybe in his voice).

"No, nothing," Jim said pitiably.

"Tell me what happened."

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Jim!" Dwight said harshly. "I deserve to know."

Jim looked up at Dwight tiredly. "She's in prison."

"Really?" Dwight whispered.

Jim nodded.

"What'd she do?"

"She-" Jim started, but then shook his head. "-no. I shouldn't be-"

"Jim, you can and should tell me what she did," Dwight said.

"It's just," Jim turned his head forward, let out a stream of air, and looked back at Dwight. "Promise you won't tell?"

"You have my word."

"But what if you accidentally say something, without realizing it?" Jim asked. "I need to be sure that doesn't happen until tomorrow, when I let everyone know."

"You can trust me," Dwight said.

Jim shook his head. "I need assurance."

"What can I do?"

"Promise not to talk for the rest of the day."

Dwight's eyes narrowed into a glare before widening back to normal size. "Fine. We'll shake on it."

He extended his hand toward Jim just as he raised his eyes to see Pam walk in.

"Very funny," Dwight said sarcastically, pulling his hand away before Jim could take it. "Grow up, Halpert."

Jim turned to smirk at the camera.

**Pam**

"What? I can't be a little late to work without being questioned?" She shook her head lightly. "I had a creative outburst, I had to write it down before I lost it."

"Good morning, Erin," Pam said, stopping for a moment at reception.

"Good morning, Pam," Erin said, a fresh smile on her face. "How was the play?"

"Oh, great," Pam said. "Thanks for asking. 'A Doll's House' is a really good show."

"I've never seen it," Erin said.

"You should read it online," Pam said. "I think you'd find it inspirational."

Erin nodded. "Thanks."

Pam walked to her desk and took a seat.

"So, you went to a play last night?" Dwight asked.

"Yes," Pam said, a bit uncomfortable.

"What did you say it was?"

"'A Doll's House,'" Pam said. "We saw it at the town opera house."

Dwight scoffed. "'A Doll's House,' what a load of feminist crap. Back when the Schrutes owned the opera house, they never showed anything like that."

"Yes, except your family never owned the opera house," Jim said, tilting the pen in his hand toward Dwight.

"Yes they did," Dwight defended. "We used to have a monopoly on Scranton entertainment."

"Oh, I love Monopoly!" Pam said.

"Me too," Jim said. "It is a great game. And the best part is, it's imaginary, just like Dwight's family's monopoly on opera houses."

"For your information, my family did have a monopoly," Dwight said. " And of course you would like Monopoly. Games of pure finance interest the unenlightened."

"Really, Dwight?" Jim asked. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You're far to sensitive for a cut-throat adrenaline-pumping game like Monopoly."

Dwight scoffed again. "Yeah right. I can be cut-thoat when I play board games, and I always make sure I have the opportune amount of adrenaline. A game like Risk is where those things are really needed."

"Risk is definitely way worse than Monopoly," Jim said.

"You're only saying that because you know I could dominate you in Risk," Dwight said.

Jim looked Dwight seriously in the eyes. He spoke with a mock-intimidating voice. "Dwight, listen to me, and listen to me good. I could crush you in Risk anytime and anywhere; and the first opportunity I get, I will do so."

Andy walked past their desks toward reception.

"The time will come," Dwight said, "and I will defeat you. Risk is a game of real men."

**Jim**

"I've actually never played Risk, and I never intend to. It's just fun to mess with Dwight."

**Andy**

"I just got hit by a jolt of inspiration. I'll have a game night at my house. It'll be great."

Andy stopped at Erin's desk. "How are you this a.m.?" he asked.

"Fine, how are you?" Erin asked.

"Good. Say, Erin, do you like board games?"

"Absolutely," Erin said.

"Monopoly?" Andy asked.

Erin shook her head. "No. I've played that way too many times."

Andy turned back to Jim and Dwight. "What about Risk?"

"Hm, I've never played it" Erin said, "but I'd love to learn how."

"Well then, little lady, you officially receive the first invitation to the Nard Dog's game night," Andy declared proudly.

"Wow, great!" Erin exclaimed. Her glowing smile faded for a second. "Except it's not really official until I get a note or an e-mail or a text or something."  
"Right you are," Andy said. "I'll get right on-"

"What's going on here?" Gabe asked as he came up on Andy's right.

Andy lowered his head. "Nothing."

"You should get back to work," Gabe said dryly.

"Yes," Andy said as he turned around and went back to his desk.

Gabe turned to Erin and smiled at her. "So, you've been talking to him a lot?"

Erin's face became thoughtful. "I guess so."

"You should probably," he paused for just a second, "not do that so much."

"Yes, Gabe," Erin said dully, turning back to her computer.

**Erin**

"Gabe's great, but-" her face became unsure, then brooding, before she smiled brightly again. "Gabe's great."


End file.
